We all want to love and be loved. Thinking about love today, I suddenly realized how quickly we start loving each other. Love can be between any two living entities (to be specific, between a living and a non-living entity as well). The most obvious love is the love existing in a relationship in existence. Love between parents and children or husband and wife are the examples. Sometimes love starts creeping in even without an existing relation. We often see a boy or a girl falling in love at first sight (is it love? debatable point). We as humans also start loving animals, objects, places and what not. We are in fact born to love.Then I asked myself what is love. Suddenly many thoughts started prevailing in my mind and soon after, I thought of translating my thoughts into words.
Allow me to share please, the first thing that struck my mind while thinking of what love is, was compatibility and mutual understanding. But immediately I rejected this idea as love can exist even without any of these phenomena. Kids grow up and sometimes the understanding starts disappearing between them still the love prevails. Then I thought love is care and concern. Since even in the absence of mutual understanding they care about each other so they love each other. But still this could not pacify the anxious mind I had at that moment. Care is the outcome of love. If I love something or somebody I care about him/her or it. No love no care. Isn’t it? No.
If you care about something or somebody then it doesn’t really mean you are in love. You might want to care because caring is into your nature or you love somebody else related to the person or thing you are caring about. It is like a girl getting married to a boy immediately starts caring about his parents, whether or not the love is present. Love might occur later also. In fact liking and loving are also different. You like somebody doesn’t mean you are in love. Love is more intense and deeper feeling than simply liking.
The question still remains. What is love?
Then I went over some other aspects surrounding love. Is love attraction or enjoyment? When we enjoy somebody’s company or we get attracted towards him/her , should we assume ourselves to be in love. Quickly I derived the response as no as this is indeed attraction. Then I thought it is actually the sensitivity towards fulfilling somebody’s wishes or desires. Guess what; quickly I thought that might be responsibility as well.
Uff. Finally I went through some articles and writings on love. I could not figure out the real definition of love. Then I thought let’s try to form a definition and that’s what I did. Here is the definition:
Love for an entity is an intense and deep emotion resulting due to its goodness. Love can cause you to care about, get attracted to or be responsible towards somebody or something.
By goodness I meant anything good existing in the entity, good looks or good behaviour or even good singing or good dancing as well. I might love a tree if it gives me shelter as I consider its sheltering as its good quality. I might love a river if its serene water really calms my mind.
Moving a step ahead, sometimes you try to see goodness in some entity even when you haven’t really known that entity. You love your kid even before he or she is born. Forget goodness, you know nothing about your kid who has to put his or her first foot on the earth still you love that kid. I figure out that you love in anticipation of the goodness. This makes me think even the anticipated goodness can result into love.
Wow! Something really surprising resulted while searching for the definition of love. Love can indeed be caused by the anticipated goodness. This means we don’t really need to know some body and his or her good qualities to love him or her. Every person has something good in him or her which might or might not be known to us. Why can’t we accept this fact and anticipate the definitely existing goodness. Just imagine how much love would start prevailing in this world of growing hatredness.
