On the Subject of Love: Kissing

Kissing a strange ritual in which two people decide to put their lips together.

Think back to your first kiss. Shuffling feet, nervous sweat, weak knees. Feelings of nervousness, uncertainty and excitement surely were present. And then it happened, your lips met anothers and you probably went home thinking that it really wasn't as scary as you thought it would be. Unless of course your braces interlocked, then it really was that bad.

The average person will spend about 20,000 minutes (or around two weeks) of their lives kissing.

Clearly there must be something about kissing we enjoy if we are so willing to spend that much time doing it.

"A passionate kiss acts like a drug, causing us to crave the other person thanks to a neurotransmitter called dopamine. This is the same substance involved in taking illegal substances such as cocaine, which is why the novelty of a new romance can feel so addictive. Dopamine is involved in sensations of reward, making us feel intense desire that can lead to feelings of euphoria, insomnia, and loss of appetite, and it is only one actor in the great chemical ballet happening in our bodies. And then there are physical changes. A kiss can cause our blood vessels to dilate, our pulse to quicken and cheeks to flush. Our pupils grow wide, which is likely one reason that so many of us are apt to close our eyes. In other words, the body's response mirrors many of the same symptoms frequently associated with falling in love."

taken from http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/14/opinion/kirshenbaum-science-kissing/index.html

 

 

So I suppose Ke$ha wasn't that far off. Your love, your love, your love is my drug.

 

But honestly not every kiss feels quite that heavenly. So who's responsible?

 

Your nose, that's who.

 

Your olfactory system plays a much bigger part in kissing and determining your committment afterward than you think.

 

While kissing women and men can smell pheremones in each other. While we may not be doing this in total conciousness, we instinctively are able to tell how compatible are DNA may be through this smelling process.

 

Putting bad breath aside, that may be why after a kiss you don't feel quite like you're flying sky high - your DNA just wasn't compatible.

 

How interesting.

 

Some classic kisses:

 

 



 

Kissing is truly a wonderful thing, and it has stress reducing effects, so no wonder society likes it so much.

 

For more on kissing:

 

My First Kiss Ever:

Part One: http://www.hannahelizabethabbott.blogspot.com/2012/05/my-first-kiss-part-1.html

Part Two: http://www.hannahelizabethabbott.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-first-kiss-part-2.html

My First Kiss With My Fiance':

 http://www.hannahelizabethabbott.blogspot.com/2012/10/kiss-me.html