How Do We Fall In Love?

In the children's book "Big Questions From Little People," author Jeanette Winterson responds to the question, "How do we fall in love?":

"You don't fall in love like you fall in a hole. You fall like falling through space. It's like you jump off your own private planet to visit someone else's planet. And when you get there it all looks different: the flowers, the animals, the colors people wear. It's a big surprise, falling in love, because you thought you had everything just right on your own planet, and that was true, in a way, but then somebody signaled to you across space and the only way you could visit was to take a giant jump. Away you go, falling into someone else's orbit and after awhile you might decide to pull your two planets together and call it home. And you can bring your dog. Or your cat. Your goldfish, hamster, collection of stones, all your old socks. (The ones you lost, including the holes, are on the new planet you found.)

And you can bring your friends to visit. And read your favorite stories to each other. And the falling was really the big jump that you had to make to be with someone that you don't want to be without. That's it.

P.S. You have to be brave."

This phrasing is so sweet. (I hate the word sweet.) But sweet this is, in a nice way. Not too syrupy-cute. Just simple. I love the idea of two people falling in love and reading each other their favorite stories. And bringing your dog. And the image of two planets hitching together.

Oh, internet. Sometimes you bring such nice little happies to me.