Two signs someone’s crushing on you

And hbd to a poet you know

Hey there!

Robert Frost turns 150 today. 

And, boy, does Mr. Mending Wall have some baller quotes. Like…

“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.”

And

"Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it." 

And

“You can make Luke’s day by helping him fundraise for kiddos in Ecuador.”

Ok, so the original Frosty didn’t say the last one, but you really can make my day by reading this fundraising letter. It’s an invitation for you to join some good work. 

And it’s so important to me that I’d rather you read that letter than the rest of this email. 

But if you must keep reading, then I won’t stop you.

Let’s sharp pivot to two signs someone’s crushing on you. 

They linger

In my early twenties, I asked a wise woman the age-old question: How do I know if a girl is interested in me?

Her two-word answer was so simple yet profound that it’s stuck with me nearly a decade later:

“She’ll linger.”

Lingering means “staying in a place longer than necessary because of a reluctance to leave.”

It’s different than loitering.

Loitering is waiting around idly without a purpose. Loitering is hopeless. And it creeps people out. 

Lingering is purposeful. It’s waiting with hope. 

I recently heard a theologian say every revival starts with people who linger. 

From after-credit scenes to after-parties, we linger when we’re hopeful that good things will come to us who wait. 

Crushes linger because they think they may miss out on magic if they leave the moment too early. 

They lack excuses

If you find yourself initiating with another person of interest, but you get their excuses more than their attendance, they’re probably not into you.

Crushes find ways to…well…crush excuses. 

They’ll rearrange calendars, fake interests, and go out of their way to have the chance to linger.

During my senior year of high school, I signed up for drama because my crush was in the class. I hated theater. But when you have feelings for someone, hating isn’t a strong enough excuse. 

Moving mountains to linger is only creepy if the affection isn’t reciprocated. If it is, then inconvenient lingering is endearing.

There’s a fine line between creepy and endearing — and attraction is the great divider.

That’s why you shouldn’t overthink what you invite a crush into. 

You could invite them to cut your yard with scissors, and if they’re into you, they’ll say yes with the same excitement as inviting them to game seven of the World Series. They’ll act like lawncare is their favorite activity, and for this occasion, it is — because they’re with you. 

Crushes lack excuses because they find creative ways to eliminate them. To them, you’re worth taking the road less traveled.

✌️

— Luke

P.S. Here’s content I’ve enjoyed lately.

It includes

• A story about a Georgia farmowner making amends with families previously enslaved

• A nobel-prize winning book about AI

• A book about fantastical cities

• A podcast making sense of what Jesus had to say about sex

• And a behind-the-scenes look at Survivor