Piaget coined the phrase “collective monologue” to describe how preschoolers play, meaning they gather together but talk only to themselves. Love is the opposite of this. It’s “collective dialogue.” Two voices construct a shared story.
Creating this shared story — what psychologists call “co-narration” — is the last great quality of romantic love, and the one Adam and Eve are most responsible for introducing. From the moment God divides them in two, they alone are responsible for writing their own narrative. Theirs is the first joint byline.
This need to author your own intermingled experience is the final lesson from the oldest couple: Love is a story we tell with another person. It’s co-creation through co-narration.
And it’s a reminder that sometimes the timeliest wisdom comes from timeless sources. Adam and Eve are the first love story. The story we need today.