Wherefore Art Thou Love At Work

Falling in love with your job is beautiful, but can it last?

Illustration of Buraq from Yusuf and Zulaykha, a 19th-century Judeo-Persian manuscript held at The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary, MS 1534 — Via Public Domain Review. Source.

Whispered sweet nothings make our hearts beat faster.

They just do.

It’s that feeling Tom Waits portrays in his song about falling in love: Hope that I don’t fall in love with you.

The refrain: “I hope I don’t fall in love with you…”

And then later. . . “The chair next to yours is free. . . and I hope that you don’t fall in love with me.”

Love boasts many great moments — and falling in love is among the greatest. We feel a current. A force that speeds up our hearts and our imagination.

The scientists and cardiologists and all who study the physiology behind things can probably explain why. (Though it’s not beyond the realm of imagination that something more than biology is happening.)

For example, there is something called broken heart syndrome. It causes some people to think they are dying when they experience the death of someone they loved deeply. The technical term is takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or ballooning heart syndrome.

So a broken heart can kill us — sort of. At least we can feel like we’re dying.