Is Love a Puzzle that can be solved?

Is Love a Puzzle that can be solved?

Ever thought about love and the puzzle that hides behind it? I’m sure you have at some point in your life time. Love is a thought that can’t be escaped— except for robots, of course— but in general most people think about love and meeting their dream person. Though, in essence, what is love and how does one fall in love?

Though, as painful as it maybe, bear with me in saying that I do not believe in stars crossing together to create a pair of lovers.  We've all read those books with the star crossed lovers who are so destined by the gods of love to meet at all cost (cough* cough* Twilight).

What then, if not stars crossing together causes people to become so attracted to each other? Answer this riddle: what tries to always explain the unexplainable? If you said science, you are right! Let’s move away from the fictional or natural idea of love and focus on science. Science (specifically speaking, psychology) is attempting to solve the mysterious puzzle that behind love.

Everyone knows the old cliché of boy meets girl — their palms starts sweating, their hearts start racing and they feel high on cloud nine? Apparently palm sweating and heart racing are symptoms of this disease called love.  According to this psychologist Dr. Needle, “specific chemical substances such as oxytocin, phenethylamine, and dopamine, have been found to play a role in human experiences and behaviors that are associated with love. They function similar to amphetamine, making us alert, excited, and wanting to bond.” http://source.southuniversity.edu/the-psychology-behind-love-and-romance-70700.aspx

As far as am concerned, the only chemical that I know is dopamine which is apparently supposed to make you high on happiness. That is how when you fall in love, the world seems like a bright colorful place. The puzzle is not totally solved as to how we fall in love but at least we've got some clues now.

So, what do you think? Do you still believe in love as some sort of mystical thing that “coincidentally” happens or do you think, like scientists, that there is more to love than we give it credit for?

Personally, I believe it’s both. Love is unexplainable as in why it happens or when it happens because you can fall in love anytime as a child or an adult and maybe, he or she may not always be the “one” but you still fall in love with him or her anyway. Though I have this opinion, as a future scientist I want to solve the mystery of the unexplainable and believe that science can account for love too.

What’s your opinion? Email me at dorothyamankwah5@gmail.com to tell me what you think about love. 

It's a Disney thing...

I’ll admit, I’m a Disney whore! Okay, maybe that is taking it a bit too far, but I have had a lifelong love affair with Disney. It’s not just the movies and the songs, but it’s the face characters, it’s the “First Trip” buttons, it’s the cute kids running around in their costumes, it’s the engagements and weddings in front of Cinderella’s castle... it’s the magic.

Through all of the pixie dust and dreams, Disney has had its share of criticism.

What most girls criticize about Disney is that it gave them unreal expectations about love and men. This is what I have to say about that...

Maybe if some females didn’t dress like they’re going to a club instead of school, they wouldn’t attract these “men” who only want them for their body. But if you dress and act like a princess, you will catch the eye of a prince. Now, I don’t expect you all to prance around in a ball gown and tiara singing about true love’s kiss while animals clean your room, that’s a little farfetched... okay, I wish that I could do that... A respectable woman wins the heart of a respectable man. A woman who doesn’t dumb  herself down will be admired for her brains. A woman who is kind will be loved for her beautiful face, and beautiful heart.

A true Prince Charming will love what is inside of your head, and what’s on it. He will not have gross “expectations” that you will have to live up to. Your Prince will love you for who you are. And I know that is super cliché but it is the truth, and I’m not one for lies….

~~~~~

Next, a lot of people, again, mostly females, think that girls don’t have to work hard and that their dreams will be granted by a fairy godmother, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth! Now people may think I'm stuck in my childhood or something, or I’m crazy, but I learned a lot from Disney movies, things that will be with me for the rest of my life.

For starters, Snow White; the original princess. I haven’t met someone who says that Snow is their favorite, in fact, she’s the least favorite! Okay, I’ll admit, she was a puppy-lovestruck teenager who fell in love with the first man she had seen. But I don’t think people see the bigger picture. She stayed in a house with a step-mother who used Snow as a slave! She could have left, but she didn’t, and that takes some serious strength! Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) was similar to Snow in dreaming of finding that perfect guy. What I found incredibly strong was that she would rather be with the guy she met in the forest than be a princess (SPOILER ALERT: he’s a prince himself), now that is what I call love!

  

Every girl has wanted to be Cinderella at some point in her life, but she gets a lot of heat too. Again, I’ll admit that it’s hard to believe that she and the prince fell in love at first sight, but that’s not what she wanted at ALL! All she wanted was to be away from her step-family, she didn’t expect him to come from his castle, knock on her door and take her away from her evil step-mother and step-sisters. She took a risk of sneaking out behind her step-mothers back to have some fun! She knew that she couldn’t live her life in fear and stay hidden from the world. When she realized that the world wasn’t coming to her, she went out and got it.

Another princess that gets criticism is Ariel (The Little Mermaid). Most of her hate comes from people thinking that her giving up her legs to be with Eric meant that a girl had to change herself in order to get a guys. But actually, she gave up her legs because it’s what she wanted her whole life, to be human! Her father disagreeing with her love of Eric was just the boiling point! Ariel was not afraid to defy her society, break the rules, and be exactly what she wanted to be.

~~~~~

Okay, enough with the hate that Disney Princesses get, time to look at the strong heroines that save the reputations of the rest.

Belle (Beauty and the Beast) was different, and she knew it! She was smart, savvy and wanted adventure, just like in her books. Sure she didn’t think it was all that great, but then again, when have we ever thought something that was different was a good thing? She was also breathtakingly beautiful and had practically every man at her feet, but she didn’t take advantage of that. Belle could also see the good in people. She saw past the Beast’s ugly face and saw into his kind and caring soul. Her love proves that pure love can change a person.

Even though the movie isn’t technically about her, Princess Jasmine (Aladdin) steals the show! She is strong-willed, powerful and independent! She won’t tolerate being treated like property or a prize. She defied her government and society to be with Aladdin. Who says you have to be with someone in your “status” when there are plenty of “diamonds-in-the-rough” out there.

Pocahontas and Mulan are very similar. Both are strong in the mental and physical sense. They gave up everything to save their people. Pocahontas’ spiritual hope and faith in the goodness of people set her apart from her tribe. Mulan only wanted to save her father from certain death and in the process saved the entire country of China. These two princesses show that bravery, courage, heart, and passion are important qualities for every person to have.

Tiana (Princess and the Frog) had worked her entire life just to own her own restaurant. She wished and she dreamed and she prayed for her dream to come true, but she worked two jobs and had to work to earn it. You can’t just wish on a star and hope everything turns out the way you want, it only takes you part of the way. Hard-work, determination, and never losing sight of what’s important are the only ways to truly get what you want.

~~~~~

I am a firm believer in Disney and love and dreams. I don’t doubt anybody’s dreams. It’s not my dream, it’s theirs. Don’t doubt your dreams, whether it’s finding true love, making it big in Hollywood, singing on Broadway, or writing the next great American novel. So pull on those white gloves, grab that magic wand, strike up the dancing brooms, and wish upon a star, because as Walt Disney himself said, “All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.”

Comments? Questions? Fellow Disney fan?! Email me!

Life at WSHS: Awkward Huggers (Katie Carter)

AWKWARD HUGGERS (noun): the epidemic taking over West Springfield High School in which young couples seem to embrace and touch each other without a single thought as to how to do it properly (there’s a rule book)

Since I have spent the past four years at my life at West Springfield High School, I consider myself an expert on this topic. Awkward hugging encompasses a wide range of human contact: hugs between a girl and her not-so-close guy friend when he pulls her in and won’t let her go, the strangely tall boy trying to keep his hand on the waist of his strangely short girlfriend while walking through the hallway, the tight-locked hand hold of new couples, hugging with backpacks on in any case, gazing in each other’s eyes while only three inches away from the other person’s face, unneeded PDA in front of a teacher (move down five lockers, please), and the gag-worthy site of a deep tissue massage taking place while the girl is in the middle of a conversation with her friends! The online comic website "The Oatmeal," agrees with me in its publication of "The 6 Types of Crappy Hugs."

The phenomenon of awkward hugging and random touching is nothing new and it certainly doesn’t seem to get better as the couples move up a grade. At first, I passed it off merely as an act of immaturity in which a young teen just desperately wants to express his or her love towards his or her boyfriend/girlfriend. Maybe they do it to look cool. Must. Walk. Like. Robots. Boy was I WRONG. It seems to be inherently installed in the brains of these young people, prohibiting them from realizing their tragic mistakes. They are just awkward people! I guess I just can’t understand because I’ve never been awkward. Shy maybe, but never weird. The way that a teenager acts seems to stem from genetics. And I know all of you bio-people out there are saying, “Yes, Katie, good job, Katie,” but I’ve just now come to this epiphany. It’s true! Some of you may be asking then why am I even ranting about this awkward hugging situation if it can’t be fixed? I would just simply like to inform my readers of the daily hardships that I, as a student of West Springfield, must endure day after day. And with less than 25 days left until I am out of here, what better time? My disgust at the displays of awkward affection will stick with me until something else burns my eyes out routinely, without fail. So good luck to all of you underclassmen, I’m out of here!

P.S. If you like my blog and want to hear more, email me!!

The Awkward Last Encounter (Hannah Ulrich)

I get kind of obsessed about guys. Just like any other love-crazed girl, I engage in the typical stalking sessions (not just the facebook ones, though). On occasion, I get to drive the love of my life home from school, and I knew we were meant to be when he started giving me The Look before he got out of the car. Things were going great; we hung out in school, I introduced him to my best friend’s boyfriend -- they kicked it off right away -- and before I knew it I was tucked under his arm in his basement with the aforementioned couple. The only thing we ever really disagreed on was the sanity of my family -- I insisted that my family was crazy. My parents were rigid clothes police, hell-bent on securing my virginity for the rest of my existence; my brother, a gamer, pothead, and dropping out of community college; and my sister, the vain fashionista who thought I was about to start campaigning for off-shore drilling at the slightest show of conservatism. He, on the other hand, kept telling me my family was perfectly normal, but I knew if he ever got a glimpse of my family when they weren’t on their best behavior, I was done for.

            I knew I was just biding my time; this state of euphoria could only last so long before I resumed my normal state of loneliness. Don’t get me wrong; I have tons of friends and I go out almost every weekend. But my flames burn hot for a short time and die out quickly, and the ones I want to keep I end up pushing away. Anyway, I was biding my time. Some family came into town, and in a brief period of insanity, I told my ten-year-old niece about my boy. She was ecstatic and demanded we do a driveby of his house. In this moment of weakness I obliged and we took off; thankfully, it was an uneventful trip and we were shortly back home.

A few days went by before I invited my boy over real quick so we could go watch a movie with some friends. The house was in an uproar; step-brother (one of the few sane ones), step-sister, step-brother-in-law, niece, nephew, brother, sister, puppy, and parents all cramped into a three-bedroom townhouse. Six out of the ten were sitting at the table, myself included, playing cards; the competitiveness was palpable. My brother-in-law and his two kids were roughhousing in the living room, and the cries from my wounded niece pierced everyone’s ears. My brother was secluded into his little mole-hole as I call it, playing Starcraft in his bed in a dark room. I’m still surprised that I could hear that fateful knock on the front door that signaled his arrival. In a flurry, I desperately begged my family to just act normal, a foreign concept to the majority. This was not surprisingly unheard by all; my niece was still crying over some misfortune or other that befell her while trying to wrestle her rather large father (who is a child at heart, and not the cute kind). Resigned, I trudged to the front door, opened it, and let him in.

The beginning of the end. You know how they say not to introduce any prospects to your family until six months after you start dating? Yeah. My parents don’t let me go out with a boy until they feel they know him inside and out. So dragging him into that disastrous family reunion was a kamikaze mission. The image was burned into my memory, and unlike my flames that burn hot and fast, this one had a searing quality to it that promised to always rest in my memory  as my last encounter with him. He slowly strolled into the living room, with crying adolescents and tense adults throwing smack talk at each other, hardly noticing the love of my life, and I saw a look in his eyes that told me he would never step foot in this zoo (my life) again.

Email me if you have any stories to share!