Can You Explain What is Love?



Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010

by Michelle Patelle
http://mybiblecoloringpages.org

This is the time of year where love is in the air and romance is on everybody's mind. Flowers and card are being exchanged; chocolates and teddy bears are given as expressions of affection. Jewelry stores are having sales and love is the central focus of our media. But what is love? How do we define something felt so strongly yet somehow ethereal?

Love is a concept that is universally understood, yet never solidly defined. Every language and culture speaks of love as a basic human emotion, as a need for a happy existence. I think that viewing love as necessity is incredibly accurate and leaves room for the different manifestations of love. We feel a different love for our parents than for our spouse, another for our children, and different types still for siblings and friends. It is incredible that something so universal and all-encompassing would so thoroughly elude explanation from our logical mind.

It is possible that love being separated from thoughts is what allows it to be so powerful. Whenever criteria are put in place to limit love is something lost. There is nothing as beautiful as unconditional love such as a mother has for her children. When love is expressed so purely there is a bond that is created between two (or more) people that cannot be broken by the difficulties life can throw at us. If the brain became involved in the process it would be more difficult to keep that love pure and unconditional, allowing room for a child's misbehavior to inhibit the relationship that needs to remain as innocent as it is.

But what about romantic love? The love between mother and child is something that needs less explanation, it just is. The love between a husband and wife is a more complicated process, one in which we choose each other instead of being paired from the beginning. The process of choosing a spouse is something that happens so naturally with both parties often just knowing that they feel that love and will spend the rest of their lives together. We can often find explanations for that love, but in reality they are found after the fact in order to have it all make sense. Scientists claim pheromones are the explanation, but that seems to take some of the magic away.

I think that the only definition of love that we truly need is that it is a strong connection to another person, one that is respectful and affectionate. I don't know if there is a more detailed explanation of the process that creates love, nor do I think there is a specific formula for the proper expression of love. What is important is recognizing love as a human need and finding ways to express the feelings of love we feel on a daily basis-not just when calendars have Valentine's Day scheduled. By keeping love abstract and purely emotional we allow it to work in our lives without being hindered by the logical (and limiting) mind.

 
Author credit:  M Patelle, stay-at-home mother and writer, builds sites on a diverse number of topics, such as http://printablevalentines.org which is a great resource for printable valentine crafts.
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