I think they have it correct - there is no way our one word truly encompasses all of the meanings - or that one person would encompass all of the facets of love.
Love is finding someone to grow old with knowing they will always have the goods on you and completely fortifying your soul with compassion, humor, & understanding.
Love is multitudes. It’s silence. It’s noise. It’s warmth. It’s vulnerability. It’s grace. It’s feared. It’s fearless. It’s sacrificial. It’s selfish. Love is tears and bright smiles. Love can walk outside your body. Love is the color gold. Love can be toxic. Love can be healing. Love is the terminal wound in our chest. Love is the gravity that keeps us on the ground. Love is staring down into a dark abyss and seeing a trickle of light. Love enrages and delights us. Love is so much that it becomes an unknowable feeling.
Love in a general sense is sacrifice, but in the more specific sense of relationships, love is trust.
When you next find yourself at some dive bar, corporate gathering, or local dance hall listening to some weathered middle aged man that looks about twenty years older than he should strumming a guitar and belting some lyrics, think about the sacrifice. He knows he's not going to 'make it big' in all likelihood. He wears all the sacrifice on his worn face. All the late nights, long travel, couch crashing, and seedy hotels. They're all there to see. Everything he's endured, All the birthdays, the holidays, the graduations, the weddings missed. That's sacrifice. The only reason to sacrifice that much is love of music. Love of performing. You know that man loves what he is doing. Even if music didn't reward him with wealth, wealth was never the point of music.
In terms of relationships specifically, romantic or otherwise, trust is love. Trust is also far more difficult to gain and far easier to lose. You don't always love things the same way, there is a organic ebb and flow to love. Trust, however, is far less mailable.
It was put something like this once on an episode of Star Trek: TNG (don't laugh; or do it's whatever) that really stuck with me. In all trust, there is a possibility of betrayal. Yet, without trust, there is no closeness, no friendship, no passion. None of the emotional connections that make us who we are. So, every time we trust, we open ourselves up to hurt and betrayal. Every. Single. Time. What bigger risk, what bigger sacrifice can one make for another than trust?
Therefore, the action of love is sacrifice. The ultimate sacrifice is trust.
A final thought: if you, dear reader, are a fan of documentaries, then I recommend Secrets of the Viking Sword on YouTube for free. It's a NOVA doc featuring a guy who loves, and I mean Loves to make swords. He has a great line that perfectly sums up his swordsmithing. He says, "I don't need a sword, but I have to make them. Not because I can't do anything else; but because I Can't. Do Anything. Else." Fascinating dude. Loves his swords!
The Greeks have eight different words for love:
Eros (romantic, passionate love)
Philia (affectionate love)
Agape (selfless, universal love)
Storge (familiar love)
Mania (obsessive love)
Ludus (playful love)
Pragma (enduring love)
Philautia (self love)
I think they have it correct - there is no way our one word truly encompasses all of the meanings - or that one person would encompass all of the facets of love.
Love means some part of you belongs to someone else and that person handles it with care. And the other way around.
Love is a verb, not just a noun. Love is something you DO every day. I get up every day and chose to love my husband and my daughter.
Love is finding someone to grow old with knowing they will always have the goods on you and completely fortifying your soul with compassion, humor, & understanding.
Love is multitudes. It’s silence. It’s noise. It’s warmth. It’s vulnerability. It’s grace. It’s feared. It’s fearless. It’s sacrificial. It’s selfish. Love is tears and bright smiles. Love can walk outside your body. Love is the color gold. Love can be toxic. Love can be healing. Love is the terminal wound in our chest. Love is the gravity that keeps us on the ground. Love is staring down into a dark abyss and seeing a trickle of light. Love enrages and delights us. Love is so much that it becomes an unknowable feeling.
Love in a general sense is sacrifice, but in the more specific sense of relationships, love is trust.
When you next find yourself at some dive bar, corporate gathering, or local dance hall listening to some weathered middle aged man that looks about twenty years older than he should strumming a guitar and belting some lyrics, think about the sacrifice. He knows he's not going to 'make it big' in all likelihood. He wears all the sacrifice on his worn face. All the late nights, long travel, couch crashing, and seedy hotels. They're all there to see. Everything he's endured, All the birthdays, the holidays, the graduations, the weddings missed. That's sacrifice. The only reason to sacrifice that much is love of music. Love of performing. You know that man loves what he is doing. Even if music didn't reward him with wealth, wealth was never the point of music.
In terms of relationships specifically, romantic or otherwise, trust is love. Trust is also far more difficult to gain and far easier to lose. You don't always love things the same way, there is a organic ebb and flow to love. Trust, however, is far less mailable.
It was put something like this once on an episode of Star Trek: TNG (don't laugh; or do it's whatever) that really stuck with me. In all trust, there is a possibility of betrayal. Yet, without trust, there is no closeness, no friendship, no passion. None of the emotional connections that make us who we are. So, every time we trust, we open ourselves up to hurt and betrayal. Every. Single. Time. What bigger risk, what bigger sacrifice can one make for another than trust?
Therefore, the action of love is sacrifice. The ultimate sacrifice is trust.
A final thought: if you, dear reader, are a fan of documentaries, then I recommend Secrets of the Viking Sword on YouTube for free. It's a NOVA doc featuring a guy who loves, and I mean Loves to make swords. He has a great line that perfectly sums up his swordsmithing. He says, "I don't need a sword, but I have to make them. Not because I can't do anything else; but because I Can't. Do Anything. Else." Fascinating dude. Loves his swords!