Definition of what love is in your own words. A short and clear explanation of “What is Love? What is love in my understanding, in my own words

What is love? Each of us asked this question more than once - and each time we could not express it in words. Why does this feeling visit a person, what is the secret of its power over us, how can we determine that what we experience for another person is that same love?

What does love mean?

This is perhaps the most intimate feeling that a person can experience in relation to another person. Love is an irresistible attraction to another person, the desire to be close to him, to take care and protect, to sacrifice oneself for the sake of a loved one - and at the same time not to feel dependent, to be internally free, to remain oneself. Love is impossible without mutual respect, care, loyalty, and responsibility.

True love is not given to each of us to know - after all, only a few are ready for a deep knowledge of love and constant work to maintain its strength for many years. As a rule, a person treats love to one degree or another selfishly, enjoying only the positive emotions from this feeling, and when love encounters inevitable obstacles, he abandons it.

What is the meaning of love? It is believed that only a loving person is able to understand another person and accept him as he is, with all his advantages and disadvantages. Love is considered one of the components of human socialization and is characteristic exclusively of homo sapiens - it is likely that it was the ability to love, and not to work, that “made a man out of an ape.” Without love, a person cannot understand others and himself, find a place for himself in this world, or enjoy life. This is an unhappy person, deprived of the main joy of life. And only a loving person will be able to experience life in all its glory, to feel the fullness of feelings that can be experienced in relation to another person.

It is difficult to answer unequivocally the question of what is the essence of love. Despite existing definitions, love is individual for each person and can inspire completely different actions, actions, and emotions. For some, it is a source of inspiration, a stimulus for creativity. For others, it is a destructive force, exhausting and does not bring joy (in most cases this concerns unrequited love). For others, it is simply bliss and complete dissolution in another person.

Love stands apart from other human feelings, differing from them in its spirituality, sublimity, motivation for creation and self-improvement. One of the main “symptoms” of love is when a person receives more pleasure from what he gives than from what he receives, without demanding anything in return. We are not talking about material things, but about spiritual ones - roughly speaking, by loving, we give our life to a person, because from now on all thoughts, all joys and sorrows are connected with our loved one. That is why a person who treats love only from a consumer point of view, who strives only to receive attention and care from another person, cannot be called loving.

Typology of love

In search of an answer to the question “What is love?” people have been there since ancient times. Even the ancient Greeks developed a whole classification of types of love, which is quite reasonable and has not lost its relevance in our time. According to this typology, love is of the following types:

- “eros” - love-passion, the constant companions of which are the predominance of the sensual side, the physiological need for each other, pathos, jealousy, complete dedication and sacrifice, in which a person loses his own “I”, completely dissolving in the object of love;

- “philia” - love-friendship, based on the spiritual component of the relationship. This is love-sympathy that arose as a result of communication between two people who were connected by common interests, views on life, mutual understanding and mutual respect;

- “storge” - love, which is based on ancestral ties. This is the love between husband and wife, parents and children, brother and sister. Storge – tender and calm love, based on mutual trust;

“agape” is reasonable love, based on an objective assessment of the merits and demerits of a loved one. In this love there is no place for feelings and emotions - the mind gets down to business. Perhaps rational love is not as poetic as passionate eros, but it is more durable and creative.

What is the essence of love - the opinion of scientists

Scientists have their own view of what love means. According to the latest research by anthropologists, love is just chemical and biological processes occurring in the human body.

Thus, during passionate love, the brain produces dopamine, a substance that increases excitability and gives a feeling of emotional uplift. The production of this substance is not constant, it lasts from 6 months to 3 years, and this time is usually enough for lovers to link their lives to reproduce.

Subsequently, the production of dopamine stops, passion dulls, and the spouses sigh, saying that “everyday is boring, and love is gone.” In fact, everything is not so sad - dopamine can be produced in the brain as a result of new sensations. To do this, you need to remember to bring romance into your relationship throughout your life together.

The meaning of love for each of us lies in something of its own, intimate and indescribable in words. Love is multifaceted like no other human feeling. A person who knows true love is happy, but even happier is the one who was able to preserve it after many years.

Every person knows. However, if you ask this question to different people, the answers will be completely different. Why is that? And is there a single true and correct definition of love - this is what I want to talk about.

The science

So what is love? Many minds of mankind have tried to define love throughout the history of earthly civilization. That is why it is worth considering this concept from different points of view. And I would like to start my analysis from the scientific sphere. What will be interesting to many is the fact that there is a special chemistry of love. Scientists have proven that when a person falls in love, his body produces such an amount of hormones that is akin to drug or alcohol intoxication. At the same time, the brain receives signals that indicate that the person is in a state of love. However, this is only one side of such a state, and considering love only as chemistry is simply a crime.

1. Love is a drug. Proof of this is a tomography of the head of a person in love. The same areas of the brain are activated in him as in a person who has used cocaine and is in a state of euphoria.
2. Love is a way of survival. Scientists have proven that human love is a slightly modified form of infatuation among animals. That is, it is easier for a person to find one partner for life, rather than constantly seeking new ones to satisfy his own sexual needs.
3. Love is blind. This statement also has scientific proof. A German researcher found that the areas of the brain responsible for rational decisions and negative emotions in a person in love simply turn off.
4. Love is an addiction. Scientists say that treatment for love should be the same as for drug addiction: remove from the “patient’s” field of vision all factors that irritate him: photographs, gifts, any reminders of the object of desire.
5. Cure from love. Since when a person falls in love, the level of a hormone such as serotonin drops quite seriously, doctors suggest compensating for it with medication in order to be able to avoid crimes based on this feeling (as statistics show, their number has increased significantly recently). However, if you “overdo it” with this hormone, a person will not fall in love, but the attraction will remain, which is fraught with promiscuity.
6. Men love with their eyes. This statement is known to many people, but not everyone knows that it also has scientific proof. When guys fall in love, the zone responsible for the visual factor is activated. An interesting fact will be that in women the area responsible for memory becomes active: a woman remembers her partner’s behavior in order to later analyze it and draw conclusions: is it worth being with such a person further.

Dictionaries

So, as a small conclusion, I would like to give a few explanations of what love is. Scientific explanation, wording:

1. This is a strong heartfelt feeling, an emotional attraction.
2. Sexual attraction, attraction.
3. Strong positive emotions.
4. Mental closeness, tender attitude.

But in general, we can say that love, from a scientific point of view, is pure chemistry.

Art

It will also be interesting that you can watch love. Photos, paintings - they perfectly illustrate this feeling. However, this is not enough for art. Many writers have also thought about what love is. It is sung in poetry, songs, and always appears on the pages of prose stories and novels. Various ones have already become so famous that people sometimes don’t even know who said it or what work they were taken from.

1. Boris Pasternak: "Love is a high disease."
2. Stendhal, “On Love”: “Love is like a fever, it can appear and fade away without the slightest sense of human will.”
3. Haruki Murakami, “Kafka on the Beach”: “Every person who falls in love is in search of something that he lacks.”
4. “The Physiology of Marriage” by Honore de Balzac: “True affection is blind. You should not judge the people you love.”
5. Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream: "That's why Cupids are portrayed as blind, because the lover looks not with his eyes, but with his heart."
6. Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov”: “What is hell? Regret that one cannot love even more.”

And a huge number of such statements can be cited. As for the nuances, they will all be different, but they will still have a single line.

Philosophers: Erich Fromm

Philosophers also have their own works on this topic. They talked a lot about love, presenting information from a variety of points of view. Now I would like to pay attention to Erich Fromm and his work “The Art of Loving.” What interesting conclusions did this philosopher make in his work? So, in his opinion, love is not just a sentimental feeling that can arise in a person. This is not enough, it is not enough. In order for love to develop, the person himself must develop and grow morally. The first step that everyone must take is to realize that love is an art, akin to the art of living. And in order to understand love in its entirety, every person must perceive it as something more than a given. The philosopher also says that in addition to love, there is some other form of relationship, symbiotic unity. There are two types:

1. Passive is to some extent masochism, when a person subordinates himself to the will of another and becomes an integral part of him. In this case, he loses his individuality.
2. Active is sadism, when one person subjugates the will of another person, making him an integral part of himself.

However, mature love is the opposite of these forms of relationships. This is the unification of two people while maintaining their personality, individuality, and integrity. According to Erich Fromm, love is a kind of force that breaks down walls, helping a person to reunite with another person. True mature love is a paradox: two people become one, while remaining two individuals. Important nuances of love, according to the author:

1. If a person loves, he will give (himself, his life).
2. A person is completely interested in the life of his partner.
3. Partners must respect each other.

Fromm on objects of love

1. Brotherly love is fundamental, the basis of other types. This is respect, care, responsibility.
2. Mother's love is the first love in every person's life. Its essence, according to the author, should presuppose the woman’s desire for the child to be separated from her in the future.
3. Erotic love is complete carnal unity with one person.
4. Self-love. The author writes that this should not be confused with selfishness, these are different concepts. Only by loving oneself can a person become loved by someone else.
5. religious form of love.

Philosopher Carl Jung

What other philosophers talked about love? So, why not turn to the works of Carl Gustave Jung, who at the same time was a great psychiatrist and at the same time also a student of Sigmund Freud? His main and favorite phrase: “Nothing is possible without love,” from which many conclusions can already be drawn. According to the author, love is the most powerful all-conquering factor in a person’s life. Thus, it is impossible to consider this topic without two archetypes that are inherent in every person: Anima and the so-called personification of the unconscious principle of a representative of the opposite sex in the psyche of each individual person. These halves are attracted to people. What is love according to Jung? The definition of love that the author gives: the traits hidden in a person are found in another person and they attract him, arousing a feeling of love.

Anthropology about love

A science such as anthropology has also tried to define the word “love”. The work of the American scientist Helen Fisher, “Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love,” deserves special attention. Here she identified three fundamental pillars of this feeling: attachment (a feeling of security and peace), romance (the most powerful stimulator of love) and lust (satisfaction of natural needs).

Religion

It is definitely worth mentioning that there is also a religious definition of love. The Bible says quite a lot about this feeling.

1. Prov. 10:12: “...a man’s love covers all his sins...”
2. Song of Songs, 8:6-7: “...love is strong as death; she is fierce as hell; her arrows are fiery; its flame is very strong. Rivers and large waters will not flood it.”
3. 1 Pet. 4:8 “...Have love for one another, because it covers all sins.”
4. 1 John 4:7-8,18: “... love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”
5. 2 John 6 “...this is love: that all should walk according to the commandments of God.”

These are not all the quotes about love that can be found in the main book of humanity, but they fully reflect the mood and definition of this feeling according to religious canons.

Psychology

1. Passion. Attraction, excitement. This is the physical side of love.
2. Proximity. Friendship, unity. Emotional side.
3. Obligations. Willingness to solve the couple's problems, caring. This is the moral aspect of this feeling.

Love in Greek

The theme of love has been touched upon by all peoples and cultures. At this stage, I would like to talk about what types of love the ancient Greeks identified.

1. Agape. This is not just love, but more compassion. The highest type is when a person can give his all without expecting anything in return.
2. Eros is passion. However, this is not always a physical passion; it can also be a spiritual one. Eros by its nature is admiration, love.
3. Philia, or sons, is brotherly love. A calmer feeling, the main thing here is spirituality.
4. Storge is more like an attachment. Most often this is marital love.

These four types of love are still the main ones today, but in the modern world other subtypes are also emerging. An interesting type may be called mania - this is madness, love-obsession.

Household level

As was said above, for each person love is something special. Everyone understands it in their own way, there is nothing wrong with that. How can one characterize love in a simple way, without resorting to the opinions of scientists, writers or philosophers?

1. Love is the desire to do something good for a loved one, to constantly please him.
2. “What kind of love is there if I can’t breathe without him” (film “Love and Doves”). Love is the desire to always be with your loved one, if not physically, then at least mentally.
3. Love is constantly thinking about whether your loved one is doing well: is he warm, has he eaten, is everything okay with him.
4. Love is giving more than receiving, without thinking about it at all.

To love means to forgive, to try to be better, to not pay attention to shortcomings. Love is constant work not only on relationships, but also on yourself. This is work that can only be rewarded after years.

Most poets, musicians, and artists created their brilliant works under the power of this serious feeling. Love does not obey the laws of reason and cannot have an empirical formula, but it undoubtedly exists. Let's try to understand this concept in more detail.

What distinguishes true love?

Love implies a storm of emotions and a vivid expression of feelings, so it is easy to confuse it with passion, addiction, habit, or strong sympathy. When consciousness is clouded by experiences, it is difficult to understand for sure what you feel for a particular person. Certain signs distinguish sublime feeling from all others. So, love is when you:

1. You want not only to receive, but also to give in return. That is, you enjoy giving your tenderness and affection to your partner, just as much as you enjoy receiving it.
2. You sincerely worry about the sorrows and failures of your other half, trying in every possible and impossible way to help. Flying in in the middle of the night with an armful of medicine when your loved one is sick is what love means.
3. You feel the need not only for intimacy, but also for spiritual intimacy. If, in addition to the desire to drag your partner into bed, you want to talk with him about intimate things and get his opinion on secret, exciting issues, do not hesitate - this is it.
4. You don’t pay attention to your partner’s financial condition. It’s not for nothing that a popular proverb says that with a sweetheart there is heaven in the hut.
5. You trust your other half as you trust yourself. Suspicion and hiding problems cannot be an indicator of sincere feelings.
6. You respect a person without trying to make him fit your standards. On the contrary, you admire his excellent views on life and try to understand his inner world.
7. You strive to please. If, when buying a cake in a store, you think that it would be nice to take a second one to treat your partner, most likely you love your other half.
8. Making joint plans for the future. What kind of love can there be without dreams of a wedding and children, or at least a last minute trip to the sea?
9. You don’t focus on a person’s shortcomings. What is love? It is not only to be content with the positive qualities of your partner, but also to accept him as he is.
10. You want happiness, regardless of whether you are in a relationship or not. Selfless love is what this feeling is. One can only dream of such an attitude towards oneself.

If you briefly describe in your own words what true love for a person is, the definition will surprise you with its simplicity - it is a feeling of deep heartfelt affection. Sounds very warm, doesn't it? Psychology interprets the definition of love scientifically. This is a happy relationship based on three aspects - moral, emotional and physical.

In general, if a person truly loves, then he is unlikely to ask questions about how to understand it. He will simply begin to experience this deep feeling and realize that he has fallen in love.

5 stages of love development

Many people idealize love, thinking that if they have found their soul mate, then there should be no problems. And when difficulties arise in a relationship, they run away from them, perhaps forever losing the chance to be truly needed. Such mistakes can be avoided if you know the main stages of true love:

1. Developing sympathy. You just met, and plump Cupid flew over you, making a well-aimed shot. This is where the big feeling begins. At this time, you fly without wings, even gloomy weather seems incredibly romantic to you, and a smile never leaves your lips. Endorphins in the blood do not allow you to think with your head, and your heart beats faster.
2. Making a pair. You have already gotten used to each other slightly and feel comfort and tenderness while spending time together. At the same time, you begin to understand your partner well, literally at a glance.
3. Addiction. You already feel your soul mate, as they say, in your heart. Can't imagine life without her. Your status has long been known to all friends and family. Everything goes smoothly and as usual. Often at this stage the decision to start a family comes.
4. Disappointment. It is possible that you are already a family or have just been together for a long time. Eyes are opened to many nuances of the character of the second half. As if under a magnifying glass, shortcomings increase to unrealistic sizes. You don’t understand where the person you were so in love with went to, and you think about the correctness of the choice you once made. Not all couples can maintain a relationship while in this phase of development.
5. Conflicts. Patience runs out, and the participants in the love relationship begin to make claims against each other. In such difficult times, partners often decide to divorce. But then they can walk along the rake all their lives, never skipping over the difficult stages of relationships in the name of the cherished happy apotheosis.
6. Work on mistakes. Heroes who have experienced the fourth and fifth stages of love begin to understand that nothing is given in this world for nothing. And they try to change, adapt, smooth out rough edges. The wisdom of the years lived together brings the participants in a love relationship closer to their most important stage.
7. Unconditional love. At this stage, having gone through all the thorns and obstacles, you will finally find what all couples in the world strive for. Your relationship has become strong and tempered thanks to all the difficulties. Together you went through fire and water and became one. Even if for some reason one of the participants did not want to stay in the couple, the other one can easily let go of love. After all, the last stage assumes that the partner is happy. Whether with you or not, it doesn’t matter anymore. The main thing for him is that you are happy.

What kind of feeling is love? There is so much one has to go through to reach romantic nirvana. Indeed, the more difficult the test, the sweeter the reward. But this is not all that can be said about love. This blissful feeling can have varieties that are very interesting to observe in everyday life.

What kind of love is there?

In the world, it is customary to classify and put everything into shelves. Even such a conventional concept as love has been subject to analysis since the times of Ancient Greece. The well-known philosopher Aristotle divided this feeling into six types:

1. Eros is sensual love that evokes romantic feelings and attraction in partners. Often, against the backdrop of such sensations, partners are capable of reckless actions.
2. Ludus is love-game arising from animal instincts. Roughly speaking, this is simply a mutual desire for sex, flirting, reminiscent of frivolous infatuation.
3. Storge is family love, based on care and devotion. This type of strongest feeling on earth also includes the affection of parents for children, warm relationships between brothers and sisters, as well as close friends.
4. Pragma is lasting love, tested over the years and through everyday adversity. Here, mutual respect and care come first, and only then everything else, like physical contact.
5. Agape is a selfless, selfless feeling. This is what the well-known sacrificial love is. The partner gives himself completely to his soul mate. It's great if this affection is mutual.
6. Mania is a feeling of obsession. An unhealthy attraction to a partner completely turns off the common sense of the lover. It's scary to think what a feeling like sick love can do to the victim of this situation. Without finding reciprocity, people sometimes do crazy things.

This is the fundamental classification of love. But each feeling is unique, thanks to the participants in the relationship, the prevailing circumstances and outside influences.

In a more modern interpretation by the German sociologist and philosopher Erich Fromm, love could be like this:

• erotic – between a man and a woman;
• fraternal - the ideal of relationships based on mutual respect and care between people;
• maternal - with her desire to give;
• egoistic - self-love, which is certainly necessary for building rational relationships;
• love for God.

Fromm argued that the ability to experience this deep feeling is not given to us a priori. Love must be learned, and acquiring this skill is a sign of maturity.

In addition to philosophical categories, there are also exciting concepts. For example, first love - what is it? Everyone who experienced this amazing feeling still remembers those moments. But most often, first relationships do not last long. What is unrequited love? Why does she come into our lives? How painful it can be to see the object of your desires who doesn’t even look in your direction. So, nothing comes into our lives by chance, especially the most sublime feeling in the world. Of course, we need to strive for “Agape” or “Pragma”. But you also need to go through all the other steps and thank fate for the lessons taught. Everything that happens makes us stronger.

Hello everyone, friends! This article will talk about what love is and how to distinguish real love from fictional love. Perhaps there is a person close to you in your life, and you don’t know whether you love him or not. Or maybe you met a girl with whom you already broke up, and you’re also not sure whether you had love with her or just a close relationship? I will share my opinion about what love is. I think many will disagree with me, but that is of course their right.

Nowadays, everywhere you look, love is everywhere. Stars sing songs about love, there are a huge number of films and TV series on TV - what are they about? Of course, about love! One has only to go to any social network and we will see a huge number of quotes and statuses about love. In almost every group there is only love and sex:smile:. And if you walk down the street, for example, and look at the entrances, they are all painted with different confessions: “Nastya, I love you,” “Elena, I can’t live without you,” and so on. Everyone around has gone crazy with their love. Is this feeling really worthy of such attention?

If we talk about true love, then of course it deserves it. But the biggest problem is that very few people can distinguish true love from simple affection or sexual addiction. What do I mean? Take, for example, a boy who kissed a girl for the first time. He really liked her, and this guy, of course, would like to have sex with her. After which he goes home and says: “I fell in love, I can’t live without her. I found my love and I will never lose it." No, of course, this does happen, but very, very rarely. And many people shout about their feelings, although they really don’t know what love is.

To understand whether you love a person or not, it’s enough to ask yourself one question: “Why do I love him?” If you don’t know the answer, then it really is love. And when, for example, a guy answers: “I love her because she has a very sexy figure,” this means that he does not love this girl, but would simply like to have sex with her.

Over time, there will be another young lady who will have even better legs, and he will again say that he fell in love even more than with the first: smile:. But again, he won’t love her, but he simply imagines sex to be much better with the second girl. This is how you need to distinguish sexual fantasies from love.

Real love– this is a very strong feeling that simply cannot be described in words. You love a person for who he is and do not see any flaws in him. You want to wake up just with him every morning and do nothing else. You are not interested in problems, failures. Your loved one is next to you, and you don’t need anything else. Love makes a guy or girl truly happy.

You can also hear the following phrase from another person: “She stopped loving me,” “I once loved her, but now I don’t.” If you think so too, then remember - this doesn’t happen, and you can’t just pick up a person and forget about him. Yes, over time, feelings for him will fade away if you don’t see each other for a long time, but you can’t forget so easily. Because love is for life.

Why does this happen when, for example, a guy can say: “I stopped loving my girlfriend.” Everything is very simple. Once upon a time he liked the beautiful figure of a young lady, but over time, the girl gained excess weight, and her legs were no longer as sexy as before, which is why the love left: smile:. So don't confuse love with the desire to sleep with a girl.

True love completely changes a person. He becomes really happy and looks at the world with completely different eyes. He has energy inside him that makes him move forward. When a person loves, he simply breaks down, he begins to dream about his future. He begins to remember the minutes he lived with his beloved girl. And the most important thing is that others simply no longer interest him. You don't want sex or attention from another woman, because there is only one woman who cannot be replaced by anyone.

The person who loves will be jealous and afraid of losing his love. And no matter how strong he is, it will be very difficult to hide his jealousy. When there is true love, the different rules of seduction, how to behave with a girl and how not to behave, are no longer important. You just live, and no matter what bad you do, if a woman loves, she will always forgive: smile:.

In fact, the question of what love is can take a very long time to answer. But no matter how much I write here, this feeling still cannot be fully conveyed in words. You have to feel it, go through it and experience it for yourself.

It is also worth saying that absolutely every person, no matter how bad he is, is capable of loving and being loved. It doesn’t matter how old you are, what your appearance is, what complexes you have. The main thing is to believe that someday you will wake up with your loved one and experience this wonderful feeling.

Have you truly loved? How did you feel at that moment when a truly loved one was nearby?

Hello people - people. Finally I got to this topic. In fact, it would be much more correct to understand for yourself, and at the same time tell your readers What is love in the very first week of the blog. But then I didn’t do it, so today I will rehabilitate myself in front of the readers and the blog.

I prepared for today’s topic very, very responsibly, because this article reveals a good half of my blog, which means I can’t even imagine in my wildest dreams approaching the issue carelessly. I am not interested in what love for the homeland, children, parents, friends or relatives is. Today I want to look at what love is between a guy and a girl, between a man and a woman. Precisely classical heterosexual love, in the most literal sense of the word. I started with the standard action in my case, I turned to search engines: “Okay Google, what is love?” - I began a dialogue with the means of modern communications.

For two days I scoured the Internet, took notes on the most important and significant points, studied the works of psychologists, philosophers, poets and even doctors on this issue. And today, after hard work, I can confidently say that I am ready to fully and completely answer this question that interests us all. I immediately have a request to all of you: if the article turns out to be really worthwhile from your point of view, please share it with your friends on social networks, for me as an author this will be the best gratitude. There are special social networking buttons under the article, so you can figure it out in general.

Love - what is it?

What is love in your own words

In my mind love is those feelings that can change a person and his attitude towards everything in the world, change values, change priorities, attitude towards life, towards yourself and especially towards the object of love. Love is a certain need, a need for a person, for his presence in life. Sometimes love can motivate a person to great deeds, or vice versa, compare with shit.

In my life I have had the opportunity to observe one of the most interesting cases when one of my friends, due to unrequited love, turned into a complete schmuck in a short time. For several years he led the life of a houseplant, drank, drank, and grew long, always dirty hair due to his vegetable lifestyle. He was a boring, boring and generally negative individual. But a few years later he fell in love with another girl, and the person became unrecognizable. He started doing amateur bodybuilding, got his hair cut, freshened up, and became a constantly positive dude, the life of the party. If I had not been watching this story for several years, I would not have believed that such a miraculous transformation in the name of love could happen.

It seems to me that the feeling of love has incredible power, which can be both positive and crushing. As the ancient legends say, Troy also fell because of love. But you know what is the most important idea that I once learned in my heart: you cannot love “for something.” For some actions you can respect, appreciate, cherish, but not love. Love is a thing that happens contrary to all human laws, which is absolutely not friendly with either logic or common sense. The most appropriate words that can be applied to true love: “ Despite everything"! Love cannot be planned, you can never fall in love because you wanted to fall in love. It’s not for nothing that they say that love comes suddenly, and usually unplanned.

But again, these are just my thoughts, which were written before studying the issue of love on the World Wide Web.

How to find out what love is

To answer the question of what love is, the first thing I did was look at Wikipedia, where I found this term:

“Love is a feeling peculiar to a person, a deep attachment to another person or object, a feeling of deep sympathy.”

In principle, a fairly good answer to the question of what love is, briefly and clearly. But is it really possible to answer this question so simply? It seems short, it seems laconic, but still something is wrong. After all, if you look at it, the answer to the question of what love is for a person has been sought since the very beginning of the existence of mankind. And Wikipedia once answered. I do not believe.

In general, it’s interesting that if you ask the question what love is to ten different people, will any of them answer the same? Hardly. And although there are a lot of theories and terms of love in literature, psychology, chemistry, culture and other layers of science and art, it has not yet been possible to find a specific answer that will fit in one paragraph. After all, love is a different thing for each of us. For some it is only suffering and sacrifice, for others it is interesting adventures and unprecedented madness, for others it is a quiet family haven, and for others they have never even thought about the question of what this love of theirs is.

How many people, so many stories, experiences and emotions. So forgive me for such a long article, but in order to answer the question of what kind of beast this is called love as fully as possible, I will have to cite different points of view from different sources.

What is love at first sight

There is quite a lot of controversy surrounding the very existence of the term “love at first sight”. Many skeptics rush to claim that such a definition cannot exist, that this is nothing more than a surge of hormones in the cerebral cortex. However, as an author, I am ready to argue with any such skeptic, because I was able to experience all the power and cruelty of love at first sight. Sorry, I won’t tell you the story now, firstly, it’s long, and secondly, the censorship won’t let it through. 😳

It happens like this in life: once you see a person, you fall in love with him to the ends of your consciousness, and no one and nothing can erase the imprint of this look from your life. claims that the fatal glance at the moment when this very “love at first sight” occurs always lingers on the object a little longer than our gaze lingers on a random passer-by, or even on a very attractive-looking person. Science has not yet answered why people fall in love at first sight, but it can be proven!

What is love at first sight? On this topic, I really liked the works of the famous Italian psychologist Francesco Alberoni, who claims that we are ready to fall in love at first sight when our unconscious seeks to change our world. Love at first sight, according to Francesco, comes into our lives at that moment, When we completely dissatisfied with what is happening in it. Moreover, they are dissatisfied not at the mental level, but at the psychological level. When our vital energy goes off scale, we are ready to disown what happened to us before, and at the same time we have enough strength to change our lifestyle and carry out new experiences.

Love at first sight occurs when deep down in our souls we would like to gain new opportunities, activate previously unused resources, explore unexplored worlds, realize unrealized dreams and desires.

As a striking example of this moment, Francesco Alberoni cites his school graduation experiences. When the old life is over, when there is a lot of strength in the body and soul to experience something new, to explore something unknown. To create and create a new life. When we are ready to free ourselves from old shackles, habits and our entire past life.

And it is at this moment, at the sight of a pretty person of the opposite sex, that a switch in the head can go off; in mythology, this switch was called cupids, who pierce the hearts of previously free people with their arrows, driving their minds crazy with love. The main task of the cupids was to get into the heart precisely at the moment of looking eye to eye. Again, the most interesting point, as Mr. Alberoni claims, just a glance is not enough. For the effect to take hold, it would be great for our brain to hear at this moment the voice of the person with whom we are about to fall in love. The voice becomes a control shot, powerful chemical reactions occur in the cerebral cortex and that’s it, we are ready to throw off the old shackles and start a new life.

But, alas, love at first sight is realized in a very small percentage of cases. In most cases, this becomes a severe torment, because in order to start a new life and say goodbye to the old one, inner desire alone is not enough, you also need the courage to leave everything that was your life before.

The most successful version of love at first sight is when two people of the opposite sex are in approximately the same psychological state of dissatisfaction, and cupids fall into their hearts at the same time. It is unlikely that it will be possible to stop such “doves”. But this happens extremely rarely, the possibility of chance is too incredible.

In most cases of Cupid hits, the fear of changing something prevails, and in the soul there remains only a feeling of emptiness and sorrow for unsatisfied love.

What love is cannot be explained...

But here are some wonderful poems about love by Anya De-Arselyan that I found on the proza.ru project:

“What love is cannot be explained.
What is love? it's simple and complicated
This is bitterness and tears, dreams and separations,
These are tender meetings and sweet torments.
What is love? can't be explained.
To understand this, you just need to LOVE!”

As for me, these lines contain the deepest understanding of love. After all, love is not always pure and brings joy to people. I think that the feeling of love has brought much more torment to humanity than pleasant and joyful moments. After all, it often happens that in order to understand what we really loved, we need to lose forever the person to whom our love was directed. Absurd, stupid, but this is the whole nature of human love.

Bible passage about love

The Bible explains the word "love" in Corinthians 13:4-8.

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, not boastful, it does not boast, does not behave indecently, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not count insults, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth, endures everything, believes everything, hopes for everything, endures everything with steadfastness. Love never fails."

What is love, the meaning of the word love

According to the large Russian explanatory dictionary:

“Love is a feeling of affection based on sexual attraction; relationship between two persons mutually connected by this feeling."

What is love - scientific explanation

It’s interesting how scientists in different fields explain what is called love. What is love according to science:

What is love in medicine

On the Internet you can find many sources that claim that the World Health Organization (WHO) has added love to the list of diseases, and even assigned it the international font F63.9. These sources claim that love is included in the category of diseases “Disorder of Habits and Inclinations, Unspecified,” and they even published a whole list of symptoms of this disease:

• obsessive thoughts about another person;
• sudden mood swings;
• self-pity;
• inflated sense of self-esteem;
• interrupted sleep and insomnia;
• rash and impulsive actions;
• headache;
• pressure changes and obsessions.

But after these publications, Ria News published a refutation, with comments from specialists - researchers, who all unanimously claim that this is nothing more than a canard that has successfully spread across the network. So don’t take it to heart, let’s move on down the list.

What is love - chemical definition

From a chemical point of view, love is a process that is more physiological than mental. Those sensations “in the soul” that we experience during “attacks of love”, as brain research shows, are reflected in our brain.

Turns out, When we are in love, there is a real hormonal explosion in some parts of our brain.. The substances 2-phenylethylamine (by the way, it is part of the amphetamine group) and dopamine are synthesized in certain parts of the brain. It is during the production of these substances that we feel the “symptoms of love”: the heartbeat quickens, the blood rushes to the face, we are overwhelmed with a feeling of euphoria and other intense feelings.

But this is not all the chemical reactions of the manifestation of love. In a woman’s brain, during “outbursts of love,” the substance oxytocin is produced, which is directly related to female orgasms, and in a man’s head, love produces nitric oxide, which has a great effect on a man’s erection.

What is love in psychology

In the psychological dictionary, love is defined by the following term:

“Love is an intense, intense and relatively stable feeling of a subject, physiologically determined by sexual needs and expressed in a socially formed desire to be one’s own personally significant traits with maximum completeness represented in the life of another in such a way as to awaken in him the need for a reciprocal feeling of the same intensity , tension and stability."

In another source, love is denoted by the following term:

“LOVE is a moral and aesthetic feeling that is expressed in a selfless and selfless desire for a certain person with his individual uniqueness.”

To be honest, even for me, a person who once received a diploma in psychology, the above texts are difficult to read. What conclusions can we draw from them?

In psychology, love is viewed as the desire to be with another person, to be unselfishly, and at the same time, with its presence, to evoke reciprocal feelings in this person. Moreover, it is very desirable that the reciprocal feelings be of the same strength. And of course, all this parsley is supported by our sexual needs in relation to this person.

What can you add here? Dry, laconic, but at the same time correct.

What is love according to Freud

It is impossible to talk about the psychology of love without mentioning Sigmund Freud. Freud was an interesting person; on the one hand, he had a great understanding of human psychology and managed to leave a memory of himself in the history of psychology as the greatest psychologist and psychotherapist of all times (although modern psychology has already managed to refute many of his theories). But on the other hand, they say that Freud was a latent homosexual who liked men, but because of the morals of that time, he was forced to suppress his desires, displacing them into the realm of the unconscious. Can such a person adequately explain to you and me what love is? Let everyone decide for themselves, but personally I consider it my duty to add his ideas to the text of today’s article.

According to Freud, love excludes any spiritual principle in itself. In his theories, a man's love for a woman is similar to a child's love for his mother. That is, love is nothing more than true gratitude, which manifests itself in devotion and fidelity, to a woman for feeding him. This is thank you for your concern. According to Freud, love is generally inaccessible to women, since they are “narcissistic” creatures who find only self-love in a man.

What is love from a philosophical point of view

Of course, philosophers throughout history have also tried to understand what love is. Socrates, Plato, Augustine, Aristotle, Pascal, and many others touched on love in their philosophical works. Forgive me kindly, but I am not going to cite their works here. Firstly, an already long article will become extremely long, and secondly, it’s boring and uninteresting. The only thing I will allow myself is to briefly describe the conclusions that the outstanding minds of history have made.

U Socrates love was considered as a certain special state of a person’s soul and his relationship.

Plato He considered love as a relationship between two unequals: one loves, and the other is beloved. There is one interesting idea in Plato’s teachings: in his opinion, love in the human body has two principles that live in a person simultaneously, constantly fueling internal conflicts. The first is the attraction to receiving pleasure - an absolutely immoral principle, incapable of high experiences. The second is sublime love, which Plato admired without hiding it. According to Plato, love is something ideal, which makes a loving person much more brilliant than one who has not known love.

Aristotle in his works he assures that in love a person’s confidence is manifested, unprecedented in him before.

Epicurus considers love exclusively from the point of view of love pleasures.

Augustine in love he considered a certain mystical ability to understand the world. He argued that we can know the world to the extent that we love.

Pascal continued Augustine's thought, considering love as the driving force towards the knowledge of God. Moreover, according to his teachings, loving God certainly means hating yourself.

Decartes and Spinoza viewed love solely as a physical passion.

Feuerbach teaches that love is such a sensual and passionate relationship between a man and a woman, in which the lovers constantly complement each other.

Soloviev considered love to be a constant exchange between loved ones who affirmed themselves in the other. According to his teachings, the main goal of love is to overcome selfishness.

What is the difference between love and infatuation

Great question! Very often falling in love is confused with love, and vice versa. In general, these two feelings are very similar to each other, with one major difference - falling in love is a quickly passing, fleeting feeling that comes quickly, but also leaves quickly. Falling in love is associated with immaturity, with the desire to do stupid things, with sensuality, passion and intolerance.

Love is a peaceful, calm feeling. This is giving, giving oneself to a person without demanding anything in return. This is trust, this is the desire to help a loved one, this is the desire for goodness and happiness. Love is associated with self-effort, self-discipline, and the ability to endure.

What is love video

To summarize: is there love?

Well, we seem to have come to some conclusions. Having examined love from almost all possible sides, it’s time to put a bold point under the exclamation point. So, I think I'm ready to answer the question: what is love and does it exist?.

What is love, the answer to the question

Love is the desire of a person to be close to another person. It exists, and there is no point in even doubting it. But at the same time love is something that cannot be understood or touched. It cannot be measured by some kind of scale, it cannot be expressed in magnitude or determined by degree. Love is the highest gift of humanity, at the same time the most terrible curse.. The power of love is phenomenal. It can have both a creating and destructive effect. All ages and all nations are submissive to love, but not every person manages to experience the true, highest feelings of love in his life. It is impossible to plan love, it is impossible to predict it. Love is directly related to the physiological processes of our body, causing chemical reactions in the cerebral cortex. Love at first sight usually “shoots” at people who are dissatisfied with the course of their lives who are full of vitality and deep down dream of changing something. Love can be both extraordinarily beautiful and mercilessly cruel.

Epilogue

Perhaps you couldn’t say better about love:

Love each other, experience this highest feeling and do not let your heart forget what love is.

With love, Vitaly Okhrimenko !