just some thoughts on love

image from here.  i want this print hanging in my future home.

so, i've been thinking a lot about love.  what is it?  why do people fall in love and how do they know that what they are experiencing is actually love.  is there such thing as soul mates?  or could anyone fall for anyone?  can you be in love more than once?  

i don't think i've ever been in love, so answering these questions is a little hard for me.  it's all speculation.  but, i think i'm a good enough observer to understand a little bit about what love is.


here i go:  (remember, this is all just my opinion and it is in no way fact)

. love is sacrifice.  the more you love a person, the more you are willing to sacrifice for them.  you truly love someone when you are willing to give your entire life for this person.  


. the foundation of love is respect.  you can't love someone without respecting them.  in my opinion that's what separates love from lust.  respect.  when you respect someone you do what's best for them, even if it hurts you.  think of that old cliché, "if you love someone, let them go."  you will always want to do what is best for them.


. people might say that love is everything BUT the physical.  i disagree.  i think that physical chemistry is necessary for people to be in love.  i don't think it's shallow to want to be with someone who you find attractive.  i think looks constantly change.  beautiful people can be really ugly once you get to know them (and if they turn out mean).  plain people can look really pretty.  everyone deserves to be with someone who thinks they are beautiful.


. overall, i think love is something that is mostly experienced.  for those of you who've seen "500 days of summer" will remember the part when summer tells tom that she didn't expect love to come along, she just felt it.  i doubt she sat down and examined herself.  i think she just woke up one day and felt "love." 


. in the jason mraz song, "life is wonderful,"  he says, "it takes no time to fall in love, but it takes years to know what love is."  i totally agree.  love should be a continual learning experience. i don't think any couple, even my parents, have reached the cap of their love.  love grows and grows.  

. i'm just going to finish off this post with some quotes on love. (i just love quotes!)

“love is a chemical reaction in your brain versus the heart. we feel this euphoria… somehow there is a little bit of magic in it, too.”

. "paper heart"

"i need to know that it's possible that two people can stay happy together forever."

. "juno"

"if you aren't good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone, since you'll resent the time and energy you give another person that you aren't even giving to yourself."

. barbara de angelis

"all love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon the sand."

.ella wheeler wilcox

"i think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. if we're in each others dreams, we can be together all the time."

.calvin and hobbs

"love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear."

. john lennon

that's all.