"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."
-St. Augustine
)this,^ is probably my favorite explanation of what love is)
Many great and wise philosophers have tried to explain love. Some say it's an emotion, others argue that it's a choice, but doesn't it go deeper than that?
If one would survey the entire population of planet earth asking the question," what do you think a person looks for in life?", the answer would most likely be success(money) or LOVE.
Thousands(and I mean thousands) of recording artists have tried to describe love, (If you go onto playlist.com and search the word love, more than 17 thousand results come up) but I have never heard a song that perfectly describes what I think love to be. Maybe the reason that nothing has satisfied my preconceived ideas of what love is, is that everyone has a different idea. Yes, when any person is in love they get butterflies and they feel unstoppable but it goes deeper than that... In the second quote^, it says,"Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away.." So.. the "butterfly" feeling isn't what describes LOVE rather than being in love.
I think often about what honest and true love is. Not giddy feelings. Not the desperate need for another person. So what? What is LOVE?!
The answer is there is no answer...at least that human intellect can grasp. I know that,"God is love" but do I know what that means?... not really. I know that God's love is absolutely unconditional. I know his love isn't understandable. But how much he loves actually is. He sent his own son. He made the ultimate sacrifice. He loved me so much that he gave his own son..just for me..for us.So, yes God IS love, but what then does it mean when a human loves or says, " I love you?"
I think it means a number of things.
1. there is an unexplainable emotional response to a person(such as: smiling when thinking of them or being unable to get them out of your mind)
2.there is an unexplainable instinct(that if need be) you would give of yourself(even to the death) for that person(just like Jesus)
3.there is no way you can imagine your life without that person by your side
You're probably saying to yourself,"psht, she's only sixteen what does she know of love?".. well I'd say that I personally don't know what my "true love" is but I know that I have it around me in many variations and stages. My sister,for example, just got married. The love between her and her wonderful husband is probably still in that butterfly,newlywed stage. The fact that it's "new love" doesn't invalidate it one bit. I believe that they are finding out together what love truly and honestly is.
A different love would be the love between my parents. They've been married almost 30 years now and have held on to eachother. I know it wasn't always easy for them and there were probably times that they wanted to give up.. but they didn't. They(i know) have "A love as strong as death" as Song of Solomon says. Their love is the deeply committed and undying love that alot of people in the world never find.
There are many kinds of love, and many explanations of what love is. I don't think that love will ever be perfectly put into words. I don't think that any recording artist will ever be able to write "the perfect love song."I have an idea of what is, but I'm young and will most likely change that idea many times as I age but for now, I'd say that love, love is unexplainable. Love is commitment. Love is sincere, and we all have our own definition at one point and time.Love means something different to all of us.
what is love to you?
~simply tammy♥
