Thursday, February 4, 2010

Laws of Attraction?

at⋅tract 
–verb
1.
to draw by a physical force causing or tending to cause to approach, adhere, or unite.
2.
to draw by appealing to the emotions or senses, by stimulating interest, or by exciting admiration.

From this definition, I understand and believe there are two types of attraction: physical and emotional.

From the first moment I saw my husband, I was physically attracted to him. Something inside of me ignited. Even now, over 12 years later, when I sometimes see him unexpectedly, my heart skips a beat. I desire to be near him, and when I am around him, my senses are awakened. Because my physical attraction for him is so deep, I am very emotionally attracted to him as well.

But I am also emotionally attracted to many others, regardless of their gender or race or religion. I think of it as an attraction of minds. I yearn to spend time with certain people because I feel mentally stimulated by them, because I feel understood in their presence, because I feel better about myself around them, and sometimes it's because I just enjoy being with them for no particular reason.

In the physical attraction sense, people say they are attracted to eyes, or butts, or smiles, or legs. But with emotional attraction, it's more about being attracted to someone's personality.

For me, I do not become truly physically attracted to someone unless I am emotionally attracted to them first (except of course for my "love at first sight" attraction to Josh). I can see people on TV or on the street and think "they're good-looking", but physically I feel nothing towards them. But after getting to know someone and becoming emotionally attracted to them, I start seeing the person as more beautiful, and I can become physically attracted to them. This has been rare, but unfortunately has still occurred.

I have given this a LOT of thought. The attractions I feel for others is something I cannot control, but acting upon the physical attractions is something I can. I can't always control my thoughts or feelings, but I can control my impulses and actions. And since I like to feel in control, I choose the latter. But even if I don't act on them, if I acknowledge my physical attraction for another in just my thoughts, is it still wrong?

Sometimes when I think about things too much in my head, I start becoming non-sensical. I'm wondering if any of you readers understand this whole attraction thing that I'm talking about? And if so, what are your thoughts on the subject?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am working on a response. It is long, so I will email it to you. _T

Salmon Tolman Family said...

my comment is that women definitely think differently than men. Big surprise there huh? Most men would never put this much thought into different types of attraction. Josh