What is love?

Exactly!

was what I was saying... in *too* many words bahahaha

I like that... I think I know what this means

I looking to understand what love is. meaning how do you express and receive it. I am not asking about specifically asking about eros. All though that to is a form of love.

for example showing love could be going to work every day, paying the bills and putting a roof over your families head. and may not demonstrative. It might be doing laundry and cooking food. I am open to any ideas on this.

thank you for your question

yes, and that verb, the action of that verb is where is gets complicated. which is why i am asking this.

yes it does. As each of us has a different way of expressing and showing love to another person, sometimes it matches what makes them feel loved, sometimes there is a mismatch. But yeah beyond just being a verb you cannot just say 'love" that or this person and everyone knows what it means.

What we typically do is give what we usually expect to receive or desire to. Sometimes it's not that way but a lot of the time it is. some people are encouragers, some are givers, others are caretakers, etc... each of us has a varied number of ways to give love to others

there isn't really a finite definition of it.

Yes that is all very true... I am trying to put together a synergy. And not limit my perspective so I am open and flexible here. Both on the giving and receiving end. For example. knowing that someone is expressing love, even if it is not the way I would naturally think of it. Has meaning. It means yes they do love you.

parenthetical to this...for me I have a few issue with altrusim. meaning I may do something and expect nothing in return. That is not a problem. But when someone does something for me, I may not return it. which then causes me an unintended problem.

thank you.

I once heard someone say something I think says a lot, "What it takes to get your baby is what it takes to keep them."

I think the bible answered that question, love is patient, kind, long suffering.

I've got the long suffering part covered.

Well in full:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Love is seeing the good in someone no matter how much harm they have done to themselves.

I would tend to agree but with different words. I would say it's seeing the value in someone whether at the time their behavior is good or not. Because at any point in our lives we can make mistakes, offend, do "bad" things but this is not the whole of our selves, and being able to love another person just as fallible as I am means accepting that we are all both good and bad at times but always valuable.

Or you? Does that also count?

I would advise looking up the 5 love languages. It goes into how people like to give and receive affection and can be used as a piece to that puzzle

According to the Bible, St Paul Says this
1 Corinthians 13:4-7New International Version (NIV)

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Based on this I do fall short, but there is hope as I can change

I have read a book on this once before. I think I will give it another read
Thank you

Put the needs of another, before the needs of yourself.

Love is never ending

Love is what Corporations created to fund Valentine's Day.

I certainly can identified with presured gift giving, birthdays, Christmas.... the list goes on and on.

I think love is a learned practiced behavior. I also think it can be very unpleasant at times. It requires dedication, devotion and commitment. I would say it is not a feeling but an action created by a feeling and a perspective.

I know one thing.Love is not selfish or self centered. It is altruistic by it's very nature.
This translates to whether it is about sexual love, brotherly love (friedship) or the love from a higher power.

One final thought as this is PC.
Love is a a form of programing in someways...to think about others and how your behavior effects others I think is paramount. With a mental illness this can be both challenging on both the giving and receiving end. Think there is wisdom in this...

Below is of course a religious txt, but I think apart from that, from a secuar perspective no one could argue with it.

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12

Sometimes love is letting go.

The definition of love is difficult. It takes on many forms. Acceptance of the person as a whole is definitely a part of it, whether it be a friend, partner, etc. There's definitely many forms of love, and the intensity can vary.

Wanting someone to be truly happy is a sign of love. Then, there's the kind of love where you feel you cannot live without someone, although I don't believe obsession is love. That's just an illusion of being in love for people, in my view. The feeling of being soulmates can be a characteristic of love on a spiritual level.

One thing I was thinking about the other day is that love is not always enough to stay with someone. Perhaps that would be classified as something different than romantic love, since there's a distinction from being "in love" and loving someone.

Then of course, there's a more superficial form of love. You can love pizza! Yeah, I know that's a stretch.