I just got home from school (5:00PM). Rode a jeep to Foodland with Adrian and walked the rest of the way home. Walking home, I recalled the events of the day, and well, my day was just simple. I attended all my classes. Spent some time with Maiatot and Plum at the VOT Office, had lunch with Adrian, Mary Ann and Khalil at Ila Puti, stayed with Adrian at Avalon while he was blogging and that was all. Nothing out of the ordinary. This would make my blog really short, but as I promised yesterday, I'll post something to reply to Plum's question "Differentiate love from infatuation." And yes, Kar I'm a true blue hardcore blogger.

Before I started composing my thoughts regarding the issue, I first checked the dictionary for the meaning of the word INFATUATION. I, for one, believed that such term never existed and that it was just a slang word some people fabricated into their world of vocabularies...like our terms HTML and LLPI. Hehehe... After going through the dictionary, guess what I found?... there is NO such term. The only terms there were INFATUATE and INFATUATED. INFATUATE: verb. to inspire with unreasoning passion or attraction. INFATUATED: adjective. completely carried away by unreasoning passion or attraction. By this definition alone, we could rest our case debating over LOVE VS INFATUATION, 'coz what case is there when one of the proponents does not even exist. But I decided to give the opposition a chance in fairness and sport.

I then looked up the meaning of the 4-letter word that moves both Heaven and Hell, LOVE: noun. strong affection for or attachment to someone. a strong liking for or interest in something a strong, usually passionate, affection for a person of the opposite sex.

Given these definitions, one could say, "It's just info from a dictionary. Why should I care about it? Besides, what matters most is real life." Sad to say, we come up with our own thoughts, yet they are our OWN. The purpose of a language is to unite all people in their understanding, explanations and definitions of everything they feel with all their senses. So no matter how well an argument is defended, the bulk of the weight of the matter goes back to basics, its roots - proper definitions, based on language. That's the power of language. Two words may mean the same, but how, where and when they are used makes a difference in the message they deliver and the emotions they stir. Isn't language wonderful?

Setting aside the defense of language, I'll go straight to the issue. Though the term INFATUATION does not exist, let's say it does and let's define it as we have understood it to mean. Both terms, LOVE and INFATUATION, begin with ATTRACTION as its first and basic step. It is the foundation with which both feelings are sparked. It then goes through a process called ATTACHMENT. This is the "getting to know you" part, where some of us do a lot of asking around as if a research is being conducted, following the "target" wherever he/she may be, talking about common likes and dislikes and so on. After much evaluation, it then comes down to the stage of MAKING A DECISION (Drum roll, please!). For men: To pursue or not to pursue, that is the question. For women: Chances are? (Is that your final answer?)

Next paragraph. What happens next? This is the part where we make distinction between LOVE and "INFATUATION" (note: in quotation marks). If everything goes well, if the answer is "YES" or any derivative thereof, then CONGRATULATIONS! It's a match. It may or may not last, but it all depends upon how you keep the flame burning. The hardest part is to make a spark and enkindle the flame. Once it burns, all you need to do is find fuel to keep it burning.

BUT, big BUT, what happens if it doesn't go the way you hoped it would be? What if you got "BUSTED!" or if he/she DUMPS you for some reason, no reason at all, for someone, or for no one? The feelings stirred in your heart at that heart-wrenching moment draws the line between LOVE and INFATUATION. As one friend of mine stated in an email, "In order to forget our feelings in an infatuated romantic relationship, all we need to do is cover our ears and move on. But when it's love, all you need to do is close your eyes and from there, you'll realize that no matter how you want to close your eyes, they just refuse to and all that the heart could give is a drop of tear." Very profound and deep in meaning.

I cringe every time someone tells me it's INFATUATION if a guy/girl gets on with his/her life... like when the guy looks for someone new and the girl opens herself to other prospects. I know there should be a stage where' were supposed to whine and sob like there's no tomorrow, but like with all storms comes the calming light of day. Like fairytales, all plots come to an end. It's sad to note that some are too immature to think so narrow-mindedly. What do they expect? That the guy/girl should sulk a lifetime over something lost like some baby crying over spilt milk? Life goes on whether we like it or not. Life is unfair... sometimes. It has it's ups and downs. It has joys, sorrows and misfortunes. Live with it! The mark of a great individual is not measured on how far and hard he/she falls. It's how he/she struggles to get up from the fall, brush off the dust and soar like a phoenix upon the ashes. Allow me to quote some lines in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, The Psalm of Life. The verses go: Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act, act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o'erhead! The full text I shall encode at the end of this post.

So I guess I've set their similarities and differences. Take note that only YOU and YOU ALONE will know whether it's LOVE or "INFATUATION". No one other than YOU can determine how YOU truly feel. What others see are only the exterior manifestations. It's just the shell. Only THE SELF will know what it truly feels within. The borderline between LOVE and "INFATUATION" is drawn at that very instant when the object of your affection wrenches your heart. How you felt at that very moment and how you decide to go through the aftermath of it determines which side of the demarcation line you're in.

Felt it before? Now you know. You are entitled to your own opinion. These are just my thoughts and these can be yours for the taking.

Here�s a poem I truly love. It inspires even the lowliest of souls. Enjoy!

Psalm of Life
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! --
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, -- act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.