How do we fall in love?

 

You don't fall in love like you fall in a hole.

You fall like falling through space. It’s like you jump

off your own private planet to visit someone else’s

planet. And when you get there it all looks different:

the flowers, the animals, the colours people wear. It

is a big surprise falling in love because you thought

you had everything just right on your own planet,

and that was true, in a way, but then somebody

signalled to you across space and the only way you

could visit was to take a giant jump. Away you go,

falling into someone else’s orbit and after a while

you might decide to pull your two planets together

and call it home. And you can bring your dog. Or

your cat. Your goldfish, hamster, collection of

stones, all your odd socks. (The ones you lost,

including the holes, are on the new planet you

found.)
And you can bring your friends to visit. And read

your favourite stories to each other. And the falling

was really the big jump that you had to make to be

with someone you don’t want to be without. That’s

it.
PS You have to be brave.

 

-Jeanette Winterson