Kisses

I'm watching the movie P.S. I Love You.  Although the end of the film is predictable, I'm getting teary-eyed. The time-aged tale of love gained, loved lost, and loved re-captured -- along with watching how we can drive those we love nuts, is endearing. Watching this film, got me thinking about how kisses connect us.

But, what is it about a kiss that can make it so special?
I thought about how many different ways I may touch someone else in a day. I could embrace hands in a handshake, I can throw my arms around someone for a hug, I can stroke the face of someone special, but it's not even close to the feeling of when lips touch. There's something extra that happens during a kiss.

How many of us remember our first kiss?
Whether that first kiss was a peck of someone you liked, or that was gung-ho french kiss, I bet that kiss memory was a hell of a lot different from a loved one kissing you good night. The anticipation, the knowing that something big is about to happen, and all of the butterflies afterwards of "oh my god" you kissed someone! I'm not convinced that this is just a cultural thing. But then, maybe it's truly just me (and maybe Judy Blume stories)... ;)

Kiss the Bride
And then there's the line we all know from weddings, "...and you may now kiss the bride." That amazing connection between 2 partners as a married couple. Sure, I betcha most of those couples had kissed before; might have kissed in front of the same set of friends/family who are witnessing the wedding. Yet, there's something special, beyond the words of the preacher or judge, that the lips serve to truly seal the deal through a kiss.

A Real Kiss
I watched 2 actors kiss in the movie and it reminded me that one can recognize whether a kiss has real chemistry behind it. A real kiss starts at the moment of transition when a look exchanged moves from just looking at each other, into peering into that other person's being. Your heart and soul can feel the moment of connection. You understand, feel a connection, and the surrounding world gets a little bit quieter. In a real kiss, an instant before your lips touch, you can feel the breath of the person carress your face and you want to inhale that breath into you. Physically, a scientist could describe how your lips inflate slightly, but what we feel is the softness of the partner's lips as they connect an instant faster than we might expect. The sweetness of the partner's lips, and the way that two people can find a rhythm to express their emotions in a kiss is amazing. Yet, in that film, even though the actors did a good job of "the linger" (you know, the moment after the kiss has finished, where you just linger your faces near each other, I hadn't been convinced that it was a real kiss. That connection had gotten missed.

While none of this post actually makes me understand why kisses can be so magical, it certainly reminded me of how special, something as simple as a kiss, ought to be.