I wrote this article about limerance—you know, that thing you feel for another person that isn’t quite love (because you don’t really know this person), and it’s not really like (because the feeling is so strong, sometimes it consumes you). You wonder why the other person won’t return your feelings. You swear the connection you feel is so real, it can’t just be in your head. Sometimes, your limerant object returns your affection, other times he/she completely ignores you. You become addicted to this game that has the power to make you feel on top of the world when the feeling seems reciprocated. But in times of rejection, you go mad.
Anyway, I wrote a 2-part article about limerance in my college newspaper in October of ‘07, and still get about 1 or 2 letters a month from readers wanting to talk about limerance—over a year later. Here’s one I just recieved today:
“It’s nice to meet you, Erin. My name is [redacted]. I read your article on limerance recently. You described exactly how I feel and we are in similar situations, both got rejected through Facebook messages and then ran into more trouble with texting. If you have time, I would really like to speak with you. I’ve been in limerance for over a year now and it would be nice to discuss some things together.
Looking forward to hear from you,
[redacted]
Have you ever experienced limerance? Want to talk about it? Please e-mail me at echicks@gmail.com. I’m interviewing limerant people and gatherinig research for an upcoming book I hope to write. Limerance is a real thing folks, and it’s not going away, and when you’re in it it totally sucks.
