(no subject)

[scottobear]

How do you define love?

What do you mean when you say "I love you" ?



CEJ. Awe, delight, warmth, a deep abiding desire for the well being of them.

To be continued and polished.

Love is:

caring
happiness
want to be with the person
friendship
free to talk about anything
warm feelings
accept the person the way they are
trust
commitment
sharing
think about the person all the time
sacrifice
understanding
honesty
respect
contentment
euphoria
put the other first
sexual passion
supportive
attachment
closeness
empathy
concern for the person's well being
heart rate increases
helping
feel good about self
forgiveness
have a lot in common
miss the person when we're apart
feel relaxed with the person
giving
liking
security
unconditional
interest in the person
intimacy
laughing
loyalty
physical attraction
uncertainty
affection
butterflies in stomach
compassion
dependency
do things for the person
excitement
kind
the person is important
positive outlook
responsibility
see only the person's good qualities
touching
devotion
energy
gazing at the other
mutual
need each other
openness
patience
protective
scary
sexual appeal
wonderful feelings
admiration
comfort
want the best for the person
long-lasting

Comments

[sherahi.livejournal.com]

I used/do(?) to have a very serious definition of "I love you."

To me, it meant, I would stand benind that person (or animal :) ) for the rest of their lives, that I was committed to them, faithful, would be there for them when they needed someone, through thick of thin, whether they were fertile or infertile, had legs or didn't, lost all their hair or not, became disfigured or not.

I've never told a man that I have loved him.

Today, I still mean the same thing with those words, but, a little 'softer'. I am not sure if I have sincerely loved the two most important men in my life that I've dated, the two most serious. I cared for them an awlful lot. In one case, I knew that if I accidentally became pregnant, I couldn't have an abortion, which actually scared me quite a bit. :) I was starting to have some serious 'nesting' instincts. It really bothered him that I didn't say 'i love you', but...I was afraid to at the time. I think if I wasn't afraid that he wanted to get married immediately (which I wasn't ready for,) I would have been able to say it. I do think I felt that above definition for him, but...I wasn't ready for the 'forever' part.

So now my definition of love is the same above, but its a bit fuzzy on the 'forever' part. Its more like 'for as long as possible.' Which is kinda sad. Maybe. I dunno. But its pretty sad that I've never told a man I loved him.

Other people have WAY looser definitions of love, and that's ok, but mine is serious, and I like it like that. I can be a very faithful, dedicated person. And I like defining love that way because to me, that is a vital part of it-- long term friendship, faith and support of that other individual. It means you accept and support them for WHO THEY ARE. Not who you want them to be, or who they pretend to be, or only when you put that good foot forward and are polite and such. But you are there for them when things get rough. That is love.

[sherahi.livejournal.com]

AND...(continuing)

Its not that I'm afraid of love or committment, I just see it as a very serious thing. When I say something, I really follow through with it, and so I want to be very sure that I'm willing to do that with someone I would tell 'i love you' to.

So its not something I jump into quickly.

[mauracelt.livejournal.com]

It truly depends on to whom I am speaking.

To my children it means love from the heart always, care, concern, worry, loyalty, encouragement, respect, civility, honour.

To my friends it means care, loyalty, respect, concern.

If I had a s/o it would mean all the above and trust as well.

[myth.livejournal.com]

'Love' is semantically bleached a bright, pure, reflective white. It's a marketing word, basically. It's a safe word to print on chocolates.

I'm not trying to be cynical. But, unless you're selling greeting cards in February, why say 'love' when you can say any number of the more descriptive, more touching words & phrases you've mentioned above?

Re:

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

I think love has strength. the opposite of a 'curse word'...

and it's nice to have a synonym for all the words there, bundled into a wonderful little package.

[i.livejournal.com]

i agree with maura. it depends on who i am saying it to, just as what it means to hear it depends on who is saying it to you. sometimes it is better not to say it if the person you say it to is going to hear something other than what you are saying. sometimes it needs explanation. sometimes it can just be said, comfortably, without fear, and with complete understanding. those are the best times.

[ex-ly656.livejournal.com]

i cant define love..
i just feel it, enjoy it and live it

Re:

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

Keeno!

[lilybleu.livejournal.com]

Put simply, love is to feel so deeply for another that i often put their happiness ahead of my own, that i would die to save them, that i will always remember them, that nothing hurts me more than knowing that they are in pain, and that causing them pain rips me to pieces that perhaps may not be able to be gathered up and put together again.

Melodramatic, perhaps, but since I am in a rough situation regarding my true love right now, it's just gotta be this way. It's all true though, all the same...

love is real, real is love...

[argumentplease.livejournal.com]

John Lennon said so many things so well...

When I say "I love you", it means I know you and I am in awe of what I know. I don't think you can love someone unless you truly and deeply know their true self. This is why I find it easy to love children and difficult to love adults, because adults put up so many more barriers around their pure selves. Most children just ARE their true, pure selves. (I've known exceptions. I have worked with some special needs children whose pure selves have been obstructed, or even damaged, by abuse and/or neglect.)

I believe that most people, at their purest, are beings worthy of respect. Not many are worthy of awe, however. I know someone who is, not for what he's done or who he is on the surface, although I do like and respect those things, but for his pure self, who he is at his core. Even when I am completely frustrated and fed up with him (which I happen to be as I'm writing this) I am still in awe of that deep-down soul. Some people have truly amazing surface selves, but this person's core being is what I find so amazing. It draws me to him, lets me see past the hurtful things he sometimes does, calls out to me to do loving things and feel loving feelings. It inspires my deep-down pure self to come out of its hiding place and share itself with him.

So, I can say that I love him -- feeling, thought, etc. but above all, recognition. And thus, knowing.

Love is . . .

[shnippit.livejournal.com]

To me no one has the right, or wrong definition of love. When I think of it, I can't describe it in one word, or sentence. I think about it as a feeling, as a way of living, as a word people use ever day. I know that in the bible it says what love is but you can't just live by what a book says.

I know I'm in love because I feel it inside my soul, it isn't just Oh I know I'm in love, it's the best thing in the world! I know for sure in my heart and my whole body that it's real, but yet I still can't describe it.

Re: Love is . . .

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

I agree.. everyone feels things differently. I like to see what everyone's perception of it is.