The mechanics of love

I comprehend the mechanics of romantic love much better at this age. Maybe it's because life experience has brought perspective regarding the distinction between the physical instinct and the more nebulous psychological aspects which give it substance but also plenty of surprises which unbalance and provide sleepless nights.

We have difficulty making the formula work because we are unsettled creatures haunted by experiences which have left their mark. The temptation is to think that the right coupling will cure our loneliness or at least distract us into busy lives which avoid us needing to address our core issues.

The ideal would be to figure things out first and then enter into a union except that this would mean compromising the prime directive to reproduce until it's too late. Thus we enter relationships under the spell of blissful ideals and grapple with real life a little later.

There is no other way.