What is Love?

[Anonymous.]

This was inspired by my "What is art?" thread.

Since Love is another thing that can mean different things from different perspectives, I got curious.

What does love mean to you?

[volleyballchick751]

To me love is what you feel when you see someone you know and you can't stop smiling, when all you want is for them to happy, and when they hold you all your troubles melt away because you know that all that really matters is this one person who would do anything for you.

[Digilodger]

Are we talking about romantic love here? Since she never define it herself, I will just go ahead and assume that the OP meant romantic love.

Romantic love is like close friendship set on fire: It can be warming, pretty, and incandescent; but it can also leave serious burns and become spiteful.

At first, the flame blazes fiercely, surpassing everything on its path, be it age, social status, taboos, distance, time, or even genders. Miraculous and undefeatable!

Then as the fuel slowly runs out, it dies away, leaving only remnants of what had once been.


If the two had fed the fire with scraps and debris, then all that would remain would be fragile ashes, crumble at the lightest touch.

On the other hand, if the two had fed the fire with strong, hard coal, then what remains would be deep-burning embers that continue to keep them warm for a lifetime.

And that is love, from its first form and evolved into what we would call "companionship."

Now then, what the hell did I just typed?

NOTE: This was inspired by the quote, "Love is friendship set on fire," by Jeremy Taylor (English Anglican, Clergyman, Writer and Bishop, 1613-1667).

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

To me love is a set of electrochemical, biochemical and biopsychosocial interactions between 2 people. Love is changes in one physiological (and I'll also say anatomical) body at various levels in response to social or biological cues from someone else, resulting in changed behaviour toward that particular person. Love is a 4-letter term to encapsulate all these changes between people. As a result of love, people would go out of their way for that particular person and upon interaction, they experience a euphoric-like state and happiness.

However, to me love is not basic friendship or liking someone, it's an extreme specific version of friendship that often makes those people even more irrational in behaviour toward one another and toward others (by-product). Love usually is not permanent although it can last 60+ years in some. However, to me it is all a neurobiological and behavioural set of changes in functioning that is so difficult to understand, to make it simple, it's given a basic word.

[Gymnophoria]

To me, love is just perfect.
It's the reason to keep going and to get up in the morning. Humans were made to love and be loved and when you find someone you truly care about. That one person who you feel you can't live without. Everything seems to centre around them and you can't even think about a day when you might not have them. When that person is your world and all you can see is them, that's love to me.
Then again, I'm just really cheesy.