Tonight I have been pondering the nature of charm.

I've only met perhaps a handful of truly charming people in the course of my life, but they have---without fail---fascinated me. Is it something within them, natural as freckles, that makes them so charming? Have they taught themselves the trick? And what *is* it that makes them so distinctly different from others who are just as kind, just as outgoing, just as easy with their words?

Because they are different. With them, it's not mere flirtation or a quick line or an interested gaze, it's all together and something else, something I can't define, that convinces *everyone* with whom they speak that every word said is heard, understood, and cherished. I love to watch others encounter the Charmers, as a matter of fact: they fall like souffles. And I am absolutely not an exception.

I'm not an exception, that is, until I see the Charmer treat another exactly the same way they treat me. Then I get bewildered, and not a little bothered. After all, when *I* speak to people that way, they're dear to me. Even allowing for differences in perception and personal interaction, I can't help but react to such...interest? intensity?...as though it means something personal.

So then the questions start: is it personal? Do the Charmers just treat everyone the same, knowing it affects them that way? Unknowing? Or do they genuinely feel invested in each and every person with whom they speak? And if they do, *how* do they do it? Such attachment to so many people would land me exhausted in the hospital within minutes. And does this mean I feel deeper for people? That they feel shallower? Or is it simply a willingness to give of oneself? And if *that* is so, why is it only a very small group of people can pull it off, when quite a lot of people I know are very generous indeed with themselves?

How can you trust a Charmer? Is it even wise to do so?

Oh, the endless questions of the ages....

Right.

.........................