LY #139 LUV DOC: The Beginning of the End

For over a decade a vanity plate has made my car highly visible:  LUV DOC.  I chose this label back in the late '90s after I became a "love educator."  I began my study of the biology and history of romantic love as I went to Austin for a week to work with Dr. Patricia Love in her Hot Monogamy course.  I thought at the time that I would develop a second work-stream as a relationship trainer.

After one foray into the entrepreneurial world I backed off.  Salesmanship is not my personal gift.  So I developed two love education courses at COCC -- Communicating Love and The Philosophy of Love and Sex.  This week I began teaching the latter for the last time.  I have no plans to continue as a speaker or trainer in this area.

Yesterday I offered my last ever performance of The Science of Love.  Originally based on Pat Love's overview, this speech has both grown and shrunk over the years as I've tuned it to fit various audiences, from classrooms to colleagues to high school students.  The core focus of the speech is on the brain science related to the three stages of love:  attraction, infatuation, and commitment/affection.  What I always stress as I review the material is that there's bad news and good news.  The bad news is that our inherited biology and certain aspects of our upbringing may attract us to and "make" us feel infatuated by a person or persons who may lead us into great unhappiness.  The good news is that as humans we have access to choice and reason and thus may be able to find or create our own happiness through the appropriate use communication behaviors that impact our neurotransmitters.

It's a speech I wish I'd heard when I was in high school.  Perhaps that's what motivated me to give it so often and with such passion.  But every passion has an end and this quarter marks a termination for my focus on attempting to "save" those who "believe" in the reality of romance.

When I receive my next big bill from ODOT, I'll be de-vanitizing my plates.