Fire: Vanilla Intentions

I realized I was completely and utterly in love with ‘the one,’ and so I committed all the limbs of my octopus heart to loving just this one woman as much as I could. But of course the old habits of those limbs and the pride of that heart have been slow and hard in their death.
~ OH, About My story

Apropos of the intentionallity of ‘vanilla fire‘, it occured to me that my naming this blog “Octopus Heart: learning to love one limb at a time” suggests an intentionality to do something, the intention to put all my limbs, my effort, energy and resource of self, into loving just this one person as best I may, despite even the own obstacles of self habituated behavior – and despite some semi-kinky love symbols (and here), a rather ‘vanilla’ intentionality as well.

That I said as much from the beginning not only lends credence to my wife’s ‘intentionality of passion’ theory regarding our relationship dynamic but also to her compact, intuitive manner of experience and knowledge.

…it takes effort to think of your partner’s character and personality rather than ‘I hope s/he remembers to pick up the dry cleaning at lunch today’ … and [in] all the ways people entertain themselves by distracting themselves from each other even when they are together, movies, television, [etc.] … end up making a choice about how they interactively think and feel about their partner.
~ My Wife’s opinion, Passion, Love: Odd Choice

But my wife doesn’t think my desire as her partner to love, dote upon and adore her, my willingness as her house husband to clean and launder to her standard -cook to her pleasure, my wife doesn’t think my excitement over obeying her every whim wish and desire in an all-effort to please her and make her happy because I love her – is any different than those who come home and are interested and excited by their particular hobby, be it television, books, movies, music, entertaining friends, their religion, their politics, etc. I simply happen to have made a different choice.
~ OH, Passion, Love: Odd Choice