Why We Love Stories of True Love
Science now tells us that our brains are hardwired for stories and even more for stories of love. Story Genius author Lisa Cron cites scientific evidence that humans need stories in order to learn how to solve life problems—especially problems of relationships.
Love is the epitome of a relationship working well, and though some say hate is its opposite, I’m more inclined to think the opposite of love is indifference. Even hate has warmth to it, and a focus on the object of the feeling. Disinterest is cold and unconnected, the opposite of any kind of magnetism that pulls you toward someone else—positive or negative magnetism.
But why is love the epitome of all possible feelings? Shakespeare says, in Romeo and Juliet, through Juliet’s impassioned declaration to Romeo on extremely short acquaintance: “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee the more I have, for both are infinite.”
Now, that’s quite a passion, an infinite love that arose within a matter of hours. And became infinite! You might chalk that up to hormones, but the statement the Bard is making goes well beyond an utterance of simple physical desire. Shakespeare is commenting on the nature of all kinds of love. He’s saying that the more you love, the more you are capable of love. That sounds more like something you’d expect Mother Theresa to say.
In a month when we celebrate the rosy infinity of love, I like to think about that possibility. The more you love, the more you can love. This approaches the idea of love as a spiritual practice—the idea that love, like any art or activity in life, improves with practice. If you love someone or something you get better and better at loving them. I suppose then that saints in various traditions would be considered Olympians of love. They raise the definition of love to include compassion, which is the love of everybody—of all humankind.
In devising the story, I wanted to tell in The Renaissance Club, I posed myself this problem: what if I could go back in time and meet some of the fantastic artists whose works I encountered in Italy? Someone like Michelangelo or Bernini or Raphael. What would I want to ask such fantastic creatives about living a creative life? And would I feel drawn to them in more than artistic ways? That’s how May Gold was born as my main character—an art historian with an undercurrent of passion and a creative soul, and lots of questions. One who’s lucky enough to slip through a fold in time and meet the living, breathing genius she most admires and whose work she loves. Would her love of his art broaden to become love of its creator? And if it did, how would she bear such a complicated love?
Of course, geniuses are notoriously difficult to live with. But when you really love someone, you enter into the crooked byways of their personality quirks and philosophical detours. You sacrifice your own quirks and preferences to follow the one you love. Even through the folds of time to live in another century. And thereby hangs the tale of The Renaissance Club. It asks the question, would you give up everything, even the time in which you live, to be with the love of your life?
But what if the love of your life wasn’t the end of your capacity to love, but only the beginning? What if love really became as deep and wide as an ocean—I’d like to know what that story would look like. One of these days, I’m going to write the alternative story of Romeo and Juliet—how their trickery enabled them to survive, move away from their feuding families, and navigate love for another forty years. Now that would be quite a love story!
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The Renaissance Club
by Rachel Dacus
Time Travel Romance
January 23, 2018
Would you give up everything, even the time in which you live, to be with your soul mate?
May Gold, college adjunct, often dreams about the subject of her master’s thesis - Gianlorenzo Bernini. In her fantasies she’s in his arms, the wildly adored partner of the man who invented the Baroque.
But in reality, May has just landed in Rome with her teaching colleagues and older boyfriend. She yearns to unleash her passion and creative spirit, and when the floor under the gilded dome of St Peter’s basilica rocks under her feet, she gets her chance. Walking through the veil that appears, she finds herself in the year 1624, staring straight into Bernini’s eyes. Their immediate and powerful attraction grows throughout May’s tour of Italy. And as she continues to meet her ethereal partner, even for brief snatches of time, her creativity and confidence blossom. All the doorways to happiness seem blocked for May-all except the shimmering doorway to Bernini’s world.
May has to choose: stay in her safe but stagnant existence, or take a risk. Will May’s adventure in time ruin her life or lead to a magical new one?
About the Author:
Rachel Dacus is the daughter of a bipolar rocket engineer who blew up a number of missiles during the race-to-space 1950’s. He was also an accomplished painter. Rachel studied at UC Berkeley and has remained in the San Francisco area. Her most recent book, Gods of Water and Air, combines poetry, prose, and a short play on the afterlife of dogs. Other poetry books are Earth Lessons and Femme au Chapeau.
Her interest in Italy was ignited by a course and tour on the Italian Renaissance. She’s been hooked on Italy ever since. Her essay “Venice and the Passion to Nurture” was anthologized in Italy, A Love Story: Women Write About the Italian Experience. When not writing, she raises funds for nonprofit causes and takes walks with her Silky Terrier. She blogs at Rocket Kid Writing.
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