From a reader: “It’s almost Christmas, and unless I fall madly in love in the next couple weeks, I’m going to be alone for the holidays. I’m in hot pursuit of mistletoe!”

Now and again — usually around the holidays, friends getting married, and company parties — we get motivated (mostly by what people think) to find a sweetheart pronto. No problem.

Infatuation only needs a few seconds. And, it tastes like a bite of heaven. Somebody finds us irresistible and quickly develops an insatiable appetite for us. They are interested in every word we have to say, aware of every little movement we make and want to spend every waking moment with us. Finally, somebody recognizes us in all of our glory!

Well, sort of. What they really see is their own salvation. We all have this innate, albeit mostly unconscious, longing to return to the paradise of the womb, where we are connected to both our mothers and the ultimate source, our needs are seamlessly met, nobody’s picking on us and everybody loves us.

Infatuation seems to make everything OK; it gives us somebody to warm up with in the cold, somebody to call when the plane’s late, and somebody to love us when nobody else does … somebody to love us even when we don’t love ourselves.… More

No matter the religion, the culture, the planet, the gift is love. It’s the gift we were given, and the gift we give.… More