Confusion

I learnt a new word today: limerence, which I first encountered in a story by Ainaa Azhar. (Thank you, Ainaa!)

I had to look it up today - curiosity can be such a seductive emotion, mind - and to my surprise...

It's something between infatuation and love, curiously enough.

Limerence is an involuntary cognitive and emotional state characterized primarily by intrusive thinking, longing for reciprocation, and sensitivity to external events that signify uncertainty on the one hand, and hope of reciprocation on the other.

Such terms that imply only brief durations, such as "having a crush," "infatuation," "passionate love," or "puppy love" do not refer to limerence, which often endures for many months or years.

And you thought love couldn't get any more complicated. This emotion - which most people seem to be unaware of - can be so easily confused with love. It's almost like...delusional love, even bordering on obsession.

Limerence is first and foremost a condition of cognitive obsession.

Did Ginny Weasley feel this emotion for a certain wizard with a very famous scar?

Did I confuse this with infatuation?

Am I talking crap?

"Love is a madness; if thwarted it develops fast". ~ Mark Twain

But that's the strange thing, isn't it? You think you're in love, but it's actually...limerence.

So what then?

P. S. - Baby panda video from the National Geographic online magazine. Watch it and be awed by Tai Shan's 'aww-inducing' cuteness (pun not intended). And in case you're wondering - no, it has nothing to do with limerence.

One last poem (written impromptu):

Broken

Broken, I’m not
I would give the world to you
If I had a small shard
A tiny part I had:
One minute time to give.

The stars gave you light
I took it away from you.
The sky gave you flight
I held on fast to you.

Jagged, torn
I’m not; I won’t be
I’m just cut
That little cut
That won’t bleed
But aches, pulses
And which speaks your name.

You talked of limerence
I dreamt of bliss
But tell me, what’s the difference
If you’re the one I miss.