I substituted for science class last week. Since my understanding of fundamental physics is spotty the teacher left instructions for me to show a movie about magnetism. All day.

 

The third time I watched the film I noticed a strong correlation between the invisible powers of magnetism and love.

 

The narrator called it "an effect without a cause". He was speaking about the lodestone and its magical ability to draw certain objects to itself. Not only does the rock have an invisible pull, it can transmit the power to a needle. 

 

For all we thrash about, croon about, scrawl about, obsess about this force called love, it too does not show up in a visible way. You can no more pin it down than you can Maria in the Sound of Music. No measuring device has yet been patented that can scan the presence or absence of affection in the human body. Lab technicians cannot calibrate a deficiency, like they can with vitamin A or iron. But the impact of its absence or abundance is as ubiquitous as the force centered at the north pole. 

 

Love draws people together with an attraction similar to a magnetic field. It pulls mothers toward the school parking lot at school dismissal, whose mini vans line up like iron filings. Love draws couples toward each other like homing pigeons on a foggy day. Magnetism in the bird's guide, a force which the pigeon can neither explain nor dispute. Many couples are equally at a loss for words to articulate why they fall toward each other with an irresistible pull. 

Photo by Rhys Asplundh

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