With Valentine’s Day cards lining store shelves and heart-shaped chocolates filling grocery aisles, it’s easy to get caught up in the pink glitter and candy hearts. But beneath the commercialization lies a simple yet complicated word: Love. Love is a feeling that has inspired millennia of poets and artists and is an essential component of a healthy life.
It’s hard to define love, which has probably been one of its greatest powers—the mushy, gushy feeling that overwhelms you when you’re around someone you’ve fallen for. Love can also be a powerful motivation, making you want to spend time and money to make the person you’re with happy. But while it’s important to be driven by a desire for happiness, you can also find true happiness without ever falling in love.
When it comes to romantic love, you’ll hear plenty of advice about finding “the one,” but there are actually many different kinds of loves that people can fall into. Some of these are more casual and fleeting, while others can last a lifetime. Love can also come from non-romantic sources, like a child’s love for their favorite toy or the deep fascination that comes from a hobby or sport.
There are a number of different ways that scientists and psychologists have tried to explain love. The conventional biological view sees it as a mammalian mating drive, triggered by hormones such as oxytocin and neurotrophins, as well as pheromones. This understanding is not always accurate, since it fails to consider the role of culture and social interaction in the development of love.
Another way of looking at love is to see it as a choice, rather than a feeling. This is similar to how some philosophers have described it, arguing that real love is a commitment to another person that takes into account their current and future situation. It’s a choice to stay with a person even when they’re not happy, and it’s a commitment to help them reach their full potential.
Finally, there’s a spiritual interpretation of love, which some philosophers have described as a feeling of union with God or the universe. This sense of love is often described as transcendent, and it can be a very fulfilling experience. But it’s not for everyone. Some people may find that they can’t connect with it or feel a lack of power over their own destiny as a result of it.
Whether you’re talking about romantic, non-romantic, or spiritual love, it’s important to remember that these types of loves can change over time and aren’t necessarily permanent. In addition to embracing the peaks and valleys of those feelings, it’s also important to be honest with yourself about how you feel about your partner, or you could end up hurting them in the process. That’s why it’s so important to find someone who makes you laugh, who embraces your personality and is not afraid of your flaws, who will support you in the hardest times, and who is happy just to be with you.
