Bai Ling's Shoplifting Arrest and My Own Story About Love Gone Wrong

Many years ago when I was just a young silly lass, I was dating a guy with whom I was madly in love. One cold, dark December night, on the eve of Christmas, my lover broke my heart by sharing with me that, unfortunately, the love that I felt for him was unrequited. Much to my dismay on that lonely Christmas Eve in the shadows of the streetlights, he ended our relationship. To put it mildly, I was devastated and left his house in a fit of fury and torment. I was blinded, unable to think clearly. All I knew is that I was not going to let him go....I needed him to know how strongly I felt and how I could not live without him. I needed him to pay attention to me.......so, in a fit of desperation, as a looming telephone pole caught my eye in the near distance, I yanked the wheel sharply and while bracing myself and closing my eyes, I headed straight for it.

As I exited the car a bit dazed and confused, with a bump on my head, a cut on my chin and a dagger through my heart, I realized what I had just done. Humiliated, I called my now ex-boyfriend who ignored my pleas and with my tail between my legs, walked home.

I once knew a young man who upon breaking up with his girlfriend, maced himself in the face right before her very eyes. We all have our stories about relationships gone sour and although most of us do not go to these types of extremes, we have all gotten at least a little crazy over love.

The rich and famous are no stranger to crazy love either! Asian acress Bai Ling's shoplifting arrest is hot in celebrity news today as E Online, reported that when she got arrested in Los Angeles the day before Valentine's Day, she blamed her ill-fated moment on the recent split with her new boyfriend. Before boarding a Southwest airline's flight, she was detained by an airport gift store for allegedly stealing $16 worth of in-flight entertainment, a couple of magazines and some AA batteries. Ling, whose credits include guest star appearances on Lost and Entourage told reporters that breaking up with her boyfriend the day before Valentine's Day was a huge issue for her causing her to feel "emotionally crazy!"

What is apparent in all of the aforementioned accounts is that there seems to be no boundaries when it comes to the pain caused by the demise of a relationship. Young, old, black, white, rich, poor, famous or not-so-famous, it is safe to say that when love cometh, you had better just grab your hat and hang on for the ride!

So, what exactly then, causes us to lose our minds over love? To put it in its most simplistic from, it is due to a bio-chemical response that is motivated by the brain's favorite neurotransmitters, dopamine and nor-epinephrine. According to Alt Penis, when scientists studied MRI's of people who were crazy in love, they found that the part of our brain that processes romantic love lies deep within our unconscious mind and is driven by these neurotransmitters. When we fall in love, these neurotransmitters follow along the same neural pathway as addictive drugs do! It is not surprising then, that when the object of our affection leaves, we begin to experience emotional pain and yearning and all our poor brain can think to do is to try and appease our aching heart by plotting ways to keep itself satiated.

Bai Ling will have plenty of time to think about her untoward actions, as she prepares for her upcoming court appearance on May 5, 2008. Gossip grabber FaFarrazi reported that while not mentioning the arrest, she expressed deep regret in a post after the incident on her personal blog:

"Life happens to you, either you like it or not, sometimes I feel you have to be so brave to stand in front of the world and just hope that people will have a tender heart toward you."

And so, another human being is brought to her knees over the bittersweet irony of love.

Running into telephone poles, mace into the eyes, Bai Ling's shoplifting bust, you name it, we have done it and we have done it in the name of love. For most of us, time heals all wounds and our brain finally calms down allowing us to move on. Bai Ling has hopefully learned from her mistake and in the future, will deal with similar situations in a more positive manner. For me, the next time I go through a break-up, I think I will take a taxi!