Delirium and the Accompaniment of Babble

I don’t know much about science but I do know that when biology is at play, chemistry can ignite. This week I learnt a valuable lesson in it, when a new equation; me + another = delirium became another algorithm I struggled with. It’s not rocket science but it’s just as difficult to figure out. The way you identify the creation of a new formula are fireworks and the insufficient supply of Carbon Dioxide when Biology kicks in and Chemistry bubbles, fizzes and overflows out of the flask that you thought you had a firm grip on. The flask is placed above the Bunsen burner, is well lit and it emits toxic gases that rush to one’s head, cloud one’s judgement and create the new formula; delirium. Delightful!

The equation comes together in grand gestures and the solution for heartbreak prevention is one part heart, two parts brain. The only cocktail allowed when emotions are fragile and waters are being tested.

The concoction is magical, groundbreaking and a medical phenomeonon – both a killer and a cure. 

The diagnosis is that it makes you clinically insane. 

The life expectancy is determined by a combination of things; 

a)      Is the other factor to the equation promising eternity? If yes, then follow your heart and you may have him for that long

b)      Is the other factor to the equation promising entrapment? If so, cute him loose

c)       Is the other factor only interested in the here and now? If so drop him, here and NOW!

With delirium at play, you will find your mind playing games with you, your heart beating a little faster, your mouth talking faster than your brain would ever allow it, but the illness has a cure and it’s entirely dependant on your will power. A friend of mine discussed a plan of action with me months ago on the way to counter prolonged symptoms; setting an expiration date at which point you stop questioning, stop wondering and re-start living, minus the other and thus minus the delirium. I hope you’re following. 

The idea behind setting an expiration date is that unless the end to delirium is a diamond, then the lack of oxygen that you are experiencing when the ‘other’ is around is a medical condition, in need of treatment. 

If this has all been too hard to follow then I’ll put it down to you having a stable relationship or a stable mind in which case you need no diagnosis, no oxygen mask, no cure. If you are at the start of new conquests, new shades of grey and are taking the road less travelled by then let expiration dates be your destination and your brain; your navigator – your heart will send you into delirium – the only formula they neglected to teach in science class.

THE QLD FLOOD APPEAL - HOW YOU CAN INUNDATE VICTIMS WITH LOVE

The opening line of a tale of two cities is “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” and Charles Dickens must have foreseen how transcendent that line would be in life, in love, in triumph and in tragedy. 

In these devastating times, with the Queensland floods drowning out New Year’s joy and forcing innocent people to hold on to values for loss of everything else, I believe if Dickens had written the line today he would have meant that at our worst, our greatest strength, our greatest friends, our greatest love is revealed. That’s the immovable, unshakeable formula that empowers people to weather any storm. 

This week I’ve been touched by tales of love that conquer any and all adversary. With the stories of the Queensland floods being inescapable, audiences across the country watched on with heavy hearts and sunken spirits, waiting for a little ray of sunshine that would help reignite a fighting spirit in victims of this disaster. With the promise of a new sunrise, some still looked to see new light. 

On channel 7’s Sunrise, a story was aired on a couple that had set their wedding for this weekend. This couple chose to dance in the rain and still celebrate their big day, thrilled to have each other having had their love confirmed in their loss. Rain, hail or shine - this couple found a home in each other’s hearts, shelter in each other’s love and greener pastures in their future together. 

Love conquered not just in marital love but in brotherly bonds also. This case had a more tragic ending. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8195370/save-my-brother-first-said-teen-victim A 13-year-old Toowomba boy named Jordan Rice was swept to his death minutes after pleading to rescue workers to save his brother first in spite of being unable to swim and afraid of water. In an act of selflessness, humility and unconditional love, this little hero put his brother’s life first, leaving a legacy of love for his younger brother to eternally carry with him. Biblically, Jesus preached that “greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” This little man did just that because even at thirteen he knew the power of love.  The flash floods swept him and his mother away. They were seen clinging for life on a nearby tree branch but the force was too strong and they were carried to their fate. 

Steve and Sandy Matthews lived and died together. Sandy Matthews, trapped behind a fridge was almost rescued by her husband Steve, when a wall collapsed and swept these soulmates away. They were together as parents, as lovers, in good times and bad, but love meant that not even death could separate them. 

The tales are increasingly tragic and I’m appealing to anyone that reads this to show new love. Love that rains a new sense of positivity over the victims of the Queensland floods. Spread a love that reaches out to strangers. Share a love that unites us all.  Give love that somehow helps rebuild the lives of those who have had their spirits drowned by these flash floods. Let’s overwhelm Queensland with a different type of inundation – a flood of generosity, that shows that even in the worst of times, the best in people can be brought out.

www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html (This site is entirely government owned and all  proceeds will go to rebuilding the lives of the Qld flood victims)

You always want what you can't have until you get Facebook!

You always want what you can’t have and when what you wanted comes back begging for your attention, its desirability disappears. That’s my current dilemma but I’m also not the only one looking beyond what I own.

As I was writing this column, I opened up on ninemsn and stumbled across an article from a men’s magazine.  I don’t endorse that type of reading so I won’t post the link but it introduces the push-up bra for men’s packages. The idea is that you wear this wonder-wear and it enhances the appearance of your member, size-wise (it’s not a miracle worker). I can see a lot of willing consumers subscribing to this gimmick. In 2011, it seems women are not the only ones who are optically illusive with their bodies. We all own a pair of spanks, a body shaper, we gel, blow-dry or keratin our hair. We always want what we can’t have and being au naturale is sometimes a little bit too daunting for both players in the courtship game. 

My dilemma of wanting what I couldn’t have then suddenly not wanting it all, came in the once desirable entering the pornography trade; or close to. The ever damaging facebook revealed intimacy with other women. We all facebook stalk. It’s the easiest way to do a background check and the easiest way to be disappointed in your latest infatuation and even though he is roaming the streets carousing, gallivanting, Hugh-Heffnering around the place (although with women his age) he still finds time to check up on me. He would. Men like him are never satisfied with just one woman. Enter Oprah with my ‘aha’ moment. I shoulda seen. I coulda seen. I woulda seen had I taken off my blinders but we all know the cliché is true and ‘love is (in fact) blind.” 

A study in Cleo magazine found the saying to be true. In a test to see how men and women responded to their partners, it was not a photo that stimulated the heart but a memory, as “feel-good” transmitters floated through their pools of romantic, emotional bodies. That was sweet I thought because it meant these loved-up couples were in it for matters of the heart. How promising! (read it here http://www.cleo.com.au/men-and-women-from-same-planet-romantically.htm ) It dispelled the notion that men and women are from different planets and told us that love was what made the world (our same world) go round. Lovely!

 Madison magazine’s February issue reports the same. It chased several couples that chased love and believed they found it in different parts of the globe. Some fought till their love conquered, others (these are the ones I paid attention to this week) let their senses conquer. Good for them!

The one story that really struck me was of a young woman who harboured a love for a man she met at a conference. Love-struck and in romantic euphoria she held on to the penchant she had for this man for years. She believed that if they could be in the same place at the same time and rid of their state-divide, they could be happy. Time passed, distance in kilometers decreased, they moved on with their respective lives but every so often, this love would creep back into her life. She waited for that spark, but the fireworks were out upon discovering that he had married, moved on and was just looking for an affair the second time around. She realized she loved the idea of him, but the reality was repulsive, bland, disappointing. She moved on. She grew up. She found him on facebook and her latter perceptions were confirmed.

I’m still a hopeless romantic, just a little more cynical this week and just as I was about to give my old crush another go and hold on to the idea that I could be the exception, I logged onto facebook and saw he’d face-booked himself with a few online loves, r.s.v.p.d to a few more parties and signed his youth away to superficiality. Love is the deal. His lust for others is the dealbreaker. 

It’s true you always want what you can’t have but sometimes, if you’re lucky, what you want eventually comes back for you and that’s when you realize what you wanted is not really what you want at all. Phew!