The Side Effects of Endorphins

Heidi often wondered what it would feel like to experience love when you are not actually in love. This was a question posed to the research team at the University of Mainz. Part of the job at a university is going to seminars after hours and on weekends with the goal of a unique perspective on research. Being in research, she is not in the publish or perish cycle. Her drive is to discover something of relative value to her fellow humanity.

She sat on the bench that sat across from the train station. She watched people leave from the train elated, coming from a Mainz FC soccer match. Some were carrying beers and others smoked their cigarettes. They looked jovial and in love with their team.

She is nervous and has trouble sleeping that night. Heidi is on the verge of something. She has a fake plastic tree in the corner of her office. She goes to work by bicycle on an E-bike. She does not even celebrate Christmas. She understands the paradox here as she rides her new bike taking her daughter to childcare. Raising a child on her own is not simple and she never thought that it would. Either is finding the biggest placebo pill on the market. All cynasism aside, they think that they on to something big. The scientists in Ingelheim have whipped up something gigantic. They think they have the formula for what constitutes love within the human brain.

They know how it works and this has always been her project to bring it to market.

She ponders this as she waters her plastic tree with a green watering can.

 Falling in love triggers a powerful brain chemistry cocktail, flooding your system with dopamine (euphoria, reward), norepinephrine (racing heart, alertness), and serotonin (initially low, causing obsession), creating intense pleasure, motivation, and focus on your beloved, like addiction. The scientists recently developed a pill that emulates this. It is a powerful plastic pill, and they are not clear of the power it holds.

 This is an excerpt from the story I wrote called Fake Plastic Love. The question of automatically being able to acquire a skill or way of being is fascinating.. My assumption is the journey of falling in love, is part of the journey. But what do I know? Love can be pretty weird.

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