It's happened to me, it's probably happened to you, and if it hasn't yet, rest assured someday it will. At some point you will meet that one special person who will put their fist through your heart. Forgive the gory allusion, but if you've ever been in mad love, you know what I'm taking about. Mad love is when you fall so passionately for a person (particularly the wrong person) that nothing else in the world matters. You find yourself thinking about your heartthrob constantly, creating fantasy scenarios that bring you together and trying your damnedest to make those scenarios happen in real life. You believe that you have finally found that one magical being who suddenly brings a sense of meaning to your existence and you will persue them with all the fervor of Wile E. Coyote after a Roadrunner dinner - with, I might add, about as much success.
We've all done it. We've all selected the wrong partners, all gotten hurt, and hopefully all moved on wiser for the experience. But there are those who, even in the face of constant disappointment, continue to believe that the intensity of their desire will be rewarded by an eventual jackpot of affection. And if that's the slot machine you're playing, friend, you'd better leave the casino 'cause that one don't pay out. Advice to someone in the throes of mad love is pretty meaningless, because any capacity they once had for rational thought has long since split for Aruba. Despite the setbacks and heartaches, the pursuer tunes out their inner voice of sanity and is more willing to swallow the tears, paint on a smile, and once again resume the chase.
- Paul Dini
