Love

Love is such a complicated and confusing emotion. Some people are so sure of what love is, while many others know they are totally lost, when it comes to the subject. I fall into the latter category.

I do not and cannot fully comprehend love. Based on knowledge captured in my stay here on earth I can only share from my experience and probably compliment that experience with what I've read in various books, magazines, articles etc.

It seems that love can be segregated into types and kinds of love.

There's the Agape love, which speaks of God's unconditional love towards us sinners that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross as punishment for our sins. I can not imagine that love and it would be difficult to love like that. Yet...we are ungrateful bastards who choose to continue living in sin, without recognizing how powerful that love is. Perhaps our sojourn here has dulled our senses and made us unwilling and unable to accept that sort of love.

The bible also speaks of Philia, which speaks of brotherly love. I guess that's seeing someone in grief and feeling their pain, wishing there is something you can to to help that person. It the altruistic part of you, the part that makes you want to see people succeed, see people in a better place than they were before. I guess it's part of the Agape love, a derivative of sort...

I just learnt of Storge, which speaks of love for family. I would say that this is the closest to Agape love than the others, especially the love a parent has for a child and, I would hope, a child has for a parent. It's the kind of love that could be considered sacrificing one's needs for the needs of another. However, its never as clear cut as that. When the opinions of others who feel they are the "experts" love, are in conflict with what you are doing, it can make you feel...inadequate...

Then there is Eros, erotic love, the sensual and sexual attraction one feels for another. However, in my opinion, this love does not "just happened". The "just happened" is just sexual attraction that one feels for any one else based on the arousal of the various senses.So I would assume romantic love is a combination of sorts. You are physically attracted someone and you develop a bond or a connection...that grows into a symbiotic relationship where compromises are made so that the attraction is sustained. That sustained attraction then lead to a situation where Philia love is incorporated into the relationship; you want what is best for each other even if it means that all of your needs would not be met. Love is...after all...giving...


One type of love I do not see being mentioned much is self love. It is loving yourself in-spite of the mess you're in. It is not accepting that you can't do better, but having the will to want better and demand better for yourself. Without loving yourself or understanding how to love yourself, it would be impossible to love others.