Consummate Love

Closeness, pull and intent are all running high at once. Sternberg calls this the complete form, and then immediately says the uncomfortable part: reaching it is easier than keeping it. Three components have to be maintained simultaneously, each decays on its own schedule when nobody is watching, and the decay is slow enough to be invisible for a long time. So read this as a description of right now rather than an achievement unlocked. What you have is the rare configuration where being known, being wanted and being chosen all point at the same person. What it asks of you is unglamorous and continuous — and the people who keep it are mostly the ones who never assumed it would keep itself.