FROM HAREMS TO PLAYBOY CLUBS IN SEARCH OF LOVE

At one time in the long twisting history of love, men of substance had their pick. In ancient Persia, Egypt, Rome and as late as the glitterati of Chicago's Playboy Mansion. Young beautiful women paraded [and were paraded] in the name of love.

Recently neurobiologists have redefined what we call love, by isolating the genes and memes which trigger the evolutionary prompts we experience.

But then my own favorite Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran. Listen to how they differ:

* Hugh Hefner     >      " Nice girls like sex too...."
* Neurobiologist >      " Evolution impels us to mate & procreate..."
* Kahlil Gibran     >      " When love beckons to you, follow her though her ways are hard and steep..."

The next party you troll, you may want to contrast these three voices. Although in America circa 2012 the rules of love and marriage have changed, not their reigns. Even in an age where both are free and where the notion of commitment feels dated, poets of the heart like Gibran still have something to say:

Of love ~ "If you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night, to know the pain of too much tenderness, to be wound by your own understanding of love, and to bleed for them willingly and joyfully..."

Of marriage ~ "You were born together and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be space in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you..."

If you bring Gibran with you to the party, I'm guessing the guests will start to look wonderfully different!