What is Love?
I have always struggled to come up with an answer or even to understand another's answer to the age-old question- "What is love?" My friend Jung recently posted this answer on his blog and I think of it as the closest definition to my belief-
"To love someone is to find the greatest happiness and fulfillment in the
mere knowledge that that person exists. It has nothing to do with knowing
or understanding the person, though understanding can become a byproduct of
true love, nor does it have to have anything to do with you actually being
with that person for the rest of your life, or having that person. To love
is to let be. It is truly the most difficult task for a human being and
perhaps the most important. Acceptance. And if, by some great fortune,
this person chooses to share a part or the entirety of his or her life with
you, then you're just one of the lucky ones. I think that's how I should
feel when I love someone."
The part that really hits me is the part about not being with the person. I would expand that to include the fact that it doesn't even matter how the other person feels about you. No one has ever really understood that when I have said it and I think that is because I didn't explain it quite as clear as Jung has. I've always hated having "the talk" when entering relationships and that insipid question- "Well how do you feel about me?" Why does it matter? Love has no room for pride.
What do you think?
"To love someone is to find the greatest happiness and fulfillment in the
mere knowledge that that person exists. It has nothing to do with knowing
or understanding the person, though understanding can become a byproduct of
true love, nor does it have to have anything to do with you actually being
with that person for the rest of your life, or having that person. To love
is to let be. It is truly the most difficult task for a human being and
perhaps the most important. Acceptance. And if, by some great fortune,
this person chooses to share a part or the entirety of his or her life with
you, then you're just one of the lucky ones. I think that's how I should
feel when I love someone."
The part that really hits me is the part about not being with the person. I would expand that to include the fact that it doesn't even matter how the other person feels about you. No one has ever really understood that when I have said it and I think that is because I didn't explain it quite as clear as Jung has. I've always hated having "the talk" when entering relationships and that insipid question- "Well how do you feel about me?" Why does it matter? Love has no room for pride.
What do you think?