Is it even possible to define love? (I am suspicious that the answer may be no)
Love is a highly personal emotion. It has immensely strong emotions tied to it. Saying "I love you" is often a major relationship milestone. If there is no universal definition for love this is a relationship mine field that I would like to explore.
What do you all think?
Go ahead, have some fun
steveo7over a year ago
Answer 1 of 5
Such a deeply complex question, What is Love, but it almost always triggers two immediate references for me.
First, on a lighter note, the song by Haddaway - What is Love. The one from night at the roxbury (baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more). And then on a more serious note, the movie wedding crashers. At the wedding in the beginning, Rachel McAdams character asks Owen Wilson "what is true love?"
The answer was beautiful. He said "True love is the soul's recognition of it's counterpoint in another." I don't think it could be defined much better than that, and in so few words.
Ask Eveover a year ago
Answer 2 of 5
To love a person, first and foremost you must KNOW them personally. Lots of teenagers say they "love" a celebrity or are "in love" with them but of course this can't be, they love the idea of who they are but if they've never met them then it's just a crush or infatuation.
Real love on the other hand is very different. If you truly love someone then you respect them for who they are, warts and all. You want to look after them and protect them, you look out for them and put them first. You feel happy and content in their company and enjoy being together. Above all you can be yourself when you're with them. You never try to be anything more or someone different because you don't need to. You don't have to impress them to win them over and you never have to play games to make them like you. There is trust and understanding on both sides and you feel safe and secure within yourself. You would never undermine them, they are not someone in whose company you feel threatened or small. They are someone with whom you can share your innermost thoughts and worries, a person with whom you should be able to share anything, they are your friend and your confidante and you can be honest with them at all times, you can tell them anything because they love you as you are.
He/she may be someone who is the direct opposite of you. On the surface you may seem like chalk and cheese. Whilst you may be loud and forceful they may be quiet and thoughtful. You may come from different backgrounds, different countries or be twenty years apart but this doesn't matter. There is an unspoken language between you, the spiritual connection between you both is so deep that you seem to be able to communicate without even speaking to each other. You are happy to lie in silence together. You feel sometimes that there is no need to talk because you feel that you know what they are thinking anyway. You feel so close to them that sometimes you think you could almost read their mind. You know when they are worried, in pain, or sad just by looking at them. It is as though there exists some kind of telepathy between you.
Real love stands the test of time, you laugh together, cry together and even have your differences but this doesn't matter, you love that person AND their failings. You come together in a crisis and work through things together and this just brings you closer. You take their feelings into consideration in all that you do. They are the most important person in your life!
scarlettewiththeropeover a year ago
Answer 3 of 5
I wrote my own little definition of love here: http://www.leftos.com/forum/view/415
I think you're right when you say you can't really define love. It's like 'art,' it's a know-it-when-you-see-it kinda thing. It's not even actually that easy, lol; as a former art student I can tell you that a lot of art requires in depth analysis to realize that it's more than junk :D (Think before you judge all you modern art haters! Haha.)
It's difficult because everyone's perspective is so different and it's such a personal thing; for instance, I would probably (condescendingly, even) tell a 16 year old who was gushing about how in love they were that they didn't know what love is etc etc, because I personally find maturity and rationality to be very key to that kinda thing. But that's my personal view, and in the end I'm, unfortunately, not the Dictator of the World. Or so my mother constantly reminds me :-P
COLTORover a year ago
Answer 4 of 5
StillFiguringasdfaItOutover a year ago
Answer 5 of 5
I like the definition "love is joyful acceptance", in that you like them for who they are, quirks and all, and this makes you happy.
Of course this does not relate to chemistry, behaviours, and all the expectations that come from a key relationships, or the disappointments of human existence, all of which can affect how we toss around the word love and all what we layer on top of it...