Love by Definition

I often wondered what love truly is. What makes it so important? What makes it so special?

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I can recall the time back when I was still a student. Our professor told us during one of her lectures that in Ancient Greece, the Greeks have four distinct words for love-- agape, eros, philia and storge. I remember our professor saying that the Greeks use these kind of language depending on to whom it was expressed and how it is used by its definition.

First,

Agape is love in a "spiritual" way. It is a true unconditional love that goes deeper regardless of the circumstances. It is selfless, a kind of love that gives and expects nothing in return.

Second,

Eros, a love that is  more "physical".  Meaning it is base purely on our emotions. Like being romantic to the person and the desire to love someone. However, eros doesn't need to be sexual in nature for this could be applied when you are dating someone and even when you are already married.

Third,

     

Philia which means "mental" love. It is a give and take kind of love more commonly seen in the form of friendship.

And the last one,

Is storge, stands for "affection". Like the affection that the parents give to their children. Storge is almost exclusively used in relationships within the family only.

These are the four distinctions of love that we are already aware of. Though, I have studied and read about it I, myself, can't still figure out what love is and because of that  I read hundreds of books and watched thousands of movies that signifies all about love. As what I have witnessed and observed I realized, there are different kinds of love and it can be expressed in different forms. You may not noticed it but it's true.

For example, can you still remember the time when you were little, you once had a childish crush on your classmate or with your friend? That innocent display of love is what we call puppy love.

The way our parents cared and protected us is not a form of them being too strict, but rather, It is them showing us how they love us.

Another one is patriotism. Loving one's country.

How about loving someone without asking nothing in return? That's love too you being self-less. Not to mention, the unrequited love we had felt for a couple of years to a certain someone. But most of all, let's not forget the feeling the way we accept and cherish ourselves.That is to...

There are so many other kinds of love that we have already seen and experienced, these are just some of them. As we grow old so does the definition of love evolves. Truth be told, we do understand these terms and grasp its concept and yet, most of us still think of what love means. What it means to us.

What it means to me?

A question that left an impression. A question in which I have yet to answer.

A book I had read once quoted " Love makes us human."

Having these simple statement linger in my mind I began to come up with an answer to all of those questions.

Indeed, love truly does makes us human because when we love we do things that we are not used to do. We experience a lot of emotions that were buried way down deep. When we love we became the imperfect person who loves perfectly.

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Why is it important?

Love  is important because it is both our strength and our weakness.  We tend to make a lot of mistakes when we fall in love but never it is the reason to give up.  We must remember; mistakes makes us human, failure makes us stronger, hope keeps us going and love makes us alive. All the more reason for us to love since it is the feeling that most of us wants to experience and getting hurt is part of that package deal.

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Why is it special?

To love and be loved is the greatest gift one can have and receive. Loving someone is never an obligation nor it is a responsibility. It is never the duty of  the other person to love you back. To love is a choice and not forced upon.

Love is infinite. We can make it as much as we want. It is never selfish and conceited. Love is patient. Love is unconditional and it's self-less. It has no boundaries and knows no limits.

 Distance is never an issue.

Cause when we love nothing else matters.

Cause when we love, our world revolves only to that person.

Cause when we love, we can see a whole different world. A fantasy in our own reality.

Because love is a magical feeling like no other and for that I can definitely say...

How about you?

What's your definition of love?

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P.S.

This is an entry for an article writing contest. Sorry if I post it a little bit delayed.