Your thoughts on 'Love'

Nazulu

They will not take our Fluids
Jun 5, 2008
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I like my grandmothers traditional view most on love. A feeling that you could not live without that person/object. Simple yet beautiful.
 

Exius Xavarus

Casually hardcore. :}
May 19, 2010
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I believe that love is something that cannot be explained or define, but merely is, if that makes any sense. Love is something different for each and every couple, something that can only be understood by those two people.

[small]User was banned for: Never Gonna Give You Up, Never Gonna Let You Down [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/520.401227]. (Permanent)[/small]
 

thesilentman

What this
Jun 14, 2012
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I'm joining the copy-pasting crew.

thesilentman said:
OT- Love? Love is what happens when you're ready to stake the world over a single person. I hope that this answers your question, OP; I can't really give a straight answer.
That's about it. I can't really add anything to it, despite enjoying Valentine's Day this February. :-/
 

Xarathox

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Feb 12, 2013
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It's annoying as fuck. For me, at least.

Either I fall for someone who is completely unavailable, or I get sucked into some kind of "therapy relationship" where I'm just a tool to be used and thrown out once the other person has gotten over... whatever it was. Needless to say, I've stopped even looking.
 

archvile93

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Sep 2, 2009
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Can't say I've ever felt it, but I can't believe I'm missing much. Just seems like a big waste of my time and money.
 

Musette

Pacifist Percussionist
Apr 19, 2010
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From what I can tell, my personal experiences with love deviate from the norm a bit. I tried for years to experience romantic love, and entered a handful of relationships in hope of finding it, but to no avail. To this day, I still do not know what romantic love feels like, but finding it is no longer a priority of mine. Ever since coming to terms with my asexuality, I began to hear about the concept of romantic orientation as something separate from sexual orientation, so I spent a good while trying to figure out my romantic orientation. For now, I think 'aromantic' is the closest term I can relate to, though I do not tend to openly share this information with others, partially because I feel that it is a tentative approximation of a label that I value for giving myself another perspective to use, but would gladly discard it should anything drastically change.

However, I know full well that I feel other types of love. I genuinely care for my family, and I would be completely unable to function if something bad happened to my twin sister. When my friendships become close, I place them in high regard and treasure said friendship as genuinely as possible. I can honestly say that the emotional distress that I have received in the past from friendships falling apart were significantly more potent than when my romantic relationships fell apart.

I think the most potent love I have ever experienced though, was not directed at people, but at an art form. I don't think I've ever loved anything the way I love percussion. I could ramble for hours about just how much music means to me, but to keep the post from getting too outrageously long, I'll just mention that I have basically dedicated my life to my music and have never been happier. If anything, I sometimes wonder if my love of music is comparable to what romantic love is supposed to feel like. It's a passion so potent that it's downright addictive for me, and I cannot help but love having it as a constant in my life.

I can't help but feel like my post is somewhat vague in sections, but I don't think I should make this get too wordy, and I could explain further, if needed. It seems like a handful of posts focus on variations of love other than the romantic variety though, so I guess my post won't contrast too sharply by discussing nonromantic love.
 

Mikejames

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Jan 26, 2012
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True meaningful companionship.
Regardless of any biological reactions behind it I prefer not to look at it from a evolutionary perspective, as it doesn't have to have a basis in reproduction and the justifiable rationality of it varies from person to person.
 

Olas

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Dec 24, 2011
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Love: Avoid, if at all possible.

-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
 

Johnny Impact

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Aug 6, 2008
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Natural selection favored the developing of strong bonds between proto-human mates, in the same way as it did from parents to children. Children whose parents did not care for them were less likely to survive; thus, the urge to care for our young was selected. Breeding couples who did not feel the urge to stay together proved less able to provide for their children, and were themselves less likely to survive if they did not have each other to lean on; thus, the tendency to form strong bonds with mates was selected.

We have been programmed by nature to feel the way we do. It's not mysterious, it's not magic, it's just chemicals in our heads.

That's not to say it doesn't have meaning or value. Great poems have been written about love. It's the glue that keeps households together. It brings us joy.....or such is the theory.

I thought I was in love once. Looking back, it was only infatuation. Regardless, she didn't return it. These days I haven't got much use for feelings of attraction. They've never made me anything but miserable. I stomp such thoughts ruthlessly as soon as I am conscious of them, well before they could lead to action. I am asexual in behavior and am becoming more asexual in thought all the time.
 

Mr F.

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Jul 11, 2012
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Love is this


And this


And this


Love is nothing. Inconsequential. Bullshit, just the firing of chemicals. And yet... Love is everything. Perfect. Agonising. Beautiful.

Those boring cynics who say they have "Grown out" of love, those people who go on and FUCKING ON about it being simple hormonal release and therefore inconsequential... You just bore me. Utterly.

Final words on love?

?Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.?

― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
 

mysecondlife

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Feb 24, 2011
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Seagoon said:
Escapists. As I'm sure you know, I love each and every one of you.

But what is 'love'? A release of Chemicals evolutionarily designed to create a strong emotional bond between partners? Something magical? Something non-existent? Have you ever been in love?

I want to know your opinions on the matter, escapist.
Love??!

Its a scam made by chocolate and jewelry makers.

--

..or its a show of compassion, kindness and attachment towards someone, something. A lot of people in this thread have said it better though.

As for your final question... I thought I was in love. Turns out I wasn't.
 

Skullpanda

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Jun 12, 2009
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Love, at least to me, is a willingness to sacrifice yourself for another person or thing. Be it morally, emotionally, physically, what have you...love is a willingness to put yourself behind someone else in this world. I do not define love as simply a parental or romantic notion. There are those that I love that I have never viewed as anything more than friends. Love is what makes us crazy. Love is what drives us to greatness and what pushes us beyond our limits. Love is also what makes us explore the darker parts of ourselves...what makes us the villains in other people's stories.

Love is a complex thing. Some people think that they have it figured out. For those of us who have truly felt the highs and lows of love...well...we find it a bit more complex than words can define. Love makes you lie. Love makes you tell the entire truth. Love is the beginning and end of us all.


As for the discussions going on? Well...I know I should have probably expected as much cynicism as I've seen here from the internet...but damn. This whole "chemical imbalance" thing is a bit disturbing, if only for the fact that it seems that everyone in that camp is completely disregarding everything but the notion of romantic love. As if that was the only love that could ever exist.
 

bananafishtoday

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Nov 30, 2012
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It's pretty dope. I'd give it 5 stars on Yelp.

Yeah, it's purely chemical, but that doesn't diminish its meaning. Everything every human has ever done or thought or felt has been purely chemical. In a way, it's a lot more beautiful and sublime to think all that is the result of natural processes, rather than souls or space magic or whatever. (And that doesn't necessarily imply determinism imo. I mean, physics isn't deterministic. Who knows, maybe quantum mechanics is the secret to free will? It's an interesting notion.)

I was in love once. It was pretty wonderful while it lasted, pretty horrible when it ended, but the bad was nothing compared to the good.
 

AngloDoom

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Aug 2, 2008
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The word 'love' seems to hold drastically different meanings for different people.

Some people believe love is when two people are destined to find one another and form a bond.
Some people believe love is like having a friend who you don't get sick of and like to have sex with.

I think the term is so broad now that it's incredibly hard to define, let alone carry any real weight. All I know is that some people are capable of giving me the most elated high I've ever felt while simultaneously being quite capable of crushing me into the dirt with a few words that I'd brush off from any other person.

If you want to express your feelings toward someone, just don't use the word 'love'. It's an easy and cheap way to summarise what should be a complex and highly personal experience.
 

A Weakgeek

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Feb 3, 2011
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Its the laziest thing, the shakiest crutch that every horrible movie, and pop song exploits, because they dont actually have anything to say.

On the otherhand its also what makes some of the greatest pieces of art what they are.
 

JemothSkarii

Thanks!
Nov 9, 2010
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Mr F. said:
Final words on love?

?Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.?

― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
I forever love that quote, helped me through a breakup surprisingly enough....
 

Headdrivehardscrew

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Aug 22, 2011
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In short:

It's a chemical imbalance that is supposed to not only make us hump each other like bunnies, but actually procreate and then even care for each other and the resulting offspring. One of nature's little tricks.

There are various longer 'splanations, but they get boring and hypothetical really soon.

JemothSkarii said:
Mr F. said:
I hate love.?

― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
I forever love that quote, helped me through a breakup surprisingly enough....
I am a bit fuzzy on the timeline of it all, but I could easily imagine that was written some time after he found himself alone in a house, with but a lovely dog as company. That dog died last year, just like mine did a week before Christmas. I thought I figured it all out before and it wouldn't get to me after decades of practicing - thing is, this 'love' thing is hardwired into us, and if it was just some mechanism of 'getting used to external stimuli', it would eventually stop hurting like the melonfarming hard fact of life that death is always with, within and all around us. Neil Gaiman channels the potential damage into words. If he couldn't do that, he would implode and just disappear from the face of the earth.
 

Therarchos

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Mar 20, 2011
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Love is a chemical probably. Love is a reaction for survival and reproduction sure. It is a sexual reaction and a reaction for our most intimate It is also something that makes us able to make the ultimate sacrifice. Risk our lives for someone whom you have never seen before. It is the thing that makes us try and make life better for the ones we hate the most. Love is not just an emotion or a reaction. It is a choice. grammar tells it best. Love is a verb.