What is Love?

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.  ~ 1st Corinithians 13

LOVE...we all use this word at some point in our lives or quite often, but what does it mean?

When I would receive hugs as a child, I thought that was love; when I met my husband and knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, I thought that was love; when I had my first child, I thought to myself...wow this is LOVE. The reality is that all of these feelings I experienced were love, just different types of love.

Deepak Chopra says: Love is part of creation, woven into the very fabric of the universe. We love one another because we have tapped into nature at a deeper level. Yes, the brain is responsible for giving love its physical expression, yet ultimately, love comes from the soul.  

What are the types of love you ask?
In a classic book titled Colors of Love (1973), John A. Lee  defined six varieties of relationship that might be labeled love. He postulated that there are three primary types of love and three secondary types of love:

PRIMARY TYPES OF LOVE

Eros is romantic, passionate, love. In this type of relationship, love is life's most important thing. Lee said a search for physical beauty or an ideal type also typifies this type of love. This is style of love that is most commonly portrayed in Hollywood movies being called "love at first sight" or based on "chemistry"

Ludos  is a game-playing or uncommitted love. Lying is part of the game. A person who pursues ludic love may have many conquests but remains uncommitted.

Storge (STORE-gaye) is a slow developing, friendship-based  loved. This style of love grows slowly out of friendship and is based more on similar interests and a commitment to one another rather than on passion.

SECONDARY TYPES OF LOVE

(Ludos +Storge) = Pragma is a pragmatic, practical, mutually beneficial relationship. It may be somewhat unromantic. A person who leans toward this  type of relationship may look for a partner at work or where the person is  spending  time. Sex is likely to be seen as a technical matter needed for producing  children, if they are desired.

(Eros + Ludos) = Mania is an obsessive or possessive love, jealous and extreme. This style usually flows out of low self-esteem and a need to be loved by one's partner. Lovers of this sort usually become very possessive and jealous.

(Eros+Storage) = Agape (a-GOP-aye) is a gentle, caring, giving type of love, brotherly love, not concerned with the self. In this style of love, the individual is willing to sacrifice anything for their partner. It is based on an unbreakable commitment and an unconditional, selfless love and is relatively rare. Mother Theresa showed this kind of love for impoverished people.

After reading about the different styles of love, I realized that I have experienced every style of love there is both as the giver of love and receiver of love. I think love is part of the human experience and that one style is not necessarily better or worse that the other.

We each experience love in our own special way and each style of love we experience, no matter the duration, will lead us to grow, discover more about ourselves, our motivation, our points of view and our stage in life. We can use the power of love to help ourselves and others in infinite ways.....what an awesome gift LOVE is!
 
What if we were able to just "be" love and "receive" love, how easy would love be?....something to think about.

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