Tuesday, June 10, 2008

What is love?

What is love?
by Sherry Jackson

Ask two people what they think love is and you will get two completely different answers. For most people love is a combination of things which are often quite confusing. Love can be respect or trust, burden or blessing and wonderful or terrifying.

Before we go on to examine why it is important to experience love from others, it is important to realise that all of us have different perceptions of love as mentioned above.

Harry Harlow, in the 1950s, concluded that people need some form of caring or love from others around them to have a stable and balanced life. He concluded this after conducting a series of psychological experiments and studying the effects of relationships on people.

Moreover, Maslow suggested a hierarchy of needs for humans and love is very close to the top after food, water and shelter. This backs up the theory suggested by Harry Harlow.

Maslow concluded that we all need social interaction and we are all social beings. This could range from having friends, being part of a strong family or having intimate relationships.

Love allows us to feel as if we "belong" - that we have a special place in not only the world as a whole, but in the world of another and our own world. When we love, and that love is returned, we experience a sense of acceptance. Those that fail to experience love firsthand may suffer through many different negative consequences.

Those that do not love, feel that they are not loved, and lack a sense of "belonging" to the people in their lives can experience any of the following symptoms and/or emotions:

1. A feeling of isolation and loneliness. This could be different for different areas of life. Some people may feel isolated at home while some just feel isolated at work.

2. Anxiety may be experienced if a person does not experience love in their life. This anxiety may occur in social situations.

3. The collective result may result in depression.

4. In severe cases, many individuals who fail to feel as if they are loved may experience suicidal thoughts, or may actually attempt this act. Unfortunately, many have actually succeeded.

In conclusion, it can be said that love is quite complex. It is almost a necessity of life and it should be experienced by all people. Love is the feeling of being totally accepted by another person and being totally receptive of them in return. It is the process of looking for the best in another person and accept them as they are.

I am not claiming to be love expert but I run the site love calculator for cool comparisons of names and their matches. It is not just another love calculator.

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