POSTSCRIPT

We began this chapter with the dying words of a doomed explorer. As Sir Robert Falcon Scott huddled inside his tent, awaiting death, he penned a last letter to his “widow.” Of all the possible things he could say during those final moments—the limitless selection of topics and words available to sum up his life—what did he choose to focus upon? Love.

When the impassable storms of your life rage around you, what shelter does love provide? If you had but a few hours to live, and were going to craft a final statement, what view of love would you elaborate?

Scott’s letter reminds us that love is not one thing, but many. To experience romantic love means to feel passion, practicality, commitment, respect, sentiment, and selflessness—all at the same time. Although no two people ever experience love in exactly the same way, we do share this in common: romantic love may not be essential to life, but it may be essential to joy.