Friday, March 2, 2012

Attraction: All the Attributes I Ache for in Another Alma

And by "alma," I mean the Spanish word for "soul," not the Book of.

The appellation is appropriate, I think.

What attracts me to someone? I think that most people tend to answer this question with a list of physical attributes. I'm not going to deny that my knees get a little weak over a pair of beautiful eyes or handsome shoulders or well-toned elbows (Shantel informs me that this last one is weird), but what really draws me to someone isn't physical at all.

To me, the most attractive thing in the world is a gentle spirit. I wish I could define it better. It's something you sense about a person. Maybe it's something about the way he carries himself or something in the way he speaks. Maybe it's not that simple. All I know is that it's palpable. I may not know how I recognize it, but recognize it I do. It's a quality that makes me feel safe, that inspires me. Around someone like that, I want to be good and gentle and happy, too.

I'm also attracted to intelligence. Someday the man I marry and I are going to be that precious old couple still holding hands, and our conversation will be as engaging then as it will be in our youth. I cannot settle for less.

If such a man also happens to like Charles Dickens and guns and the Legend of Zelda, who am I to say nay?

Listening to: "Maybe" by Ingrid Michaelson
Reading: The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

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