Thoughts.

So this is a very different post, but it's something I have posted for two specific reasons. I think it's something that should be shared, and something I want feedback on. What to you think of this particular post? Do you agree with me? Is there anything you want to add?

So as most of you know, I live in a very blended family. I have cousins galore, (including step-cousins) I have a step auntie, and step Grandparents. I have so many people who love me, (including my beautiful, crazy, wonderful friends,) that it's overwhelming!! And this is a topic and question that had been in the back of my mind for a long time. EVERYONE loves slightly differently. Ever heard of Love Languages? (Mine are mainly physical touch and words of affirmation)
So this has gotten me thinking. What is love? It surely must be more then an emotion...so this is taken directly out of my journal which I always have with me wherever I go, and I try to figure out what this thing we call love is. (And remember people. This isn't just about husband and wifey love. It's ALL kinds. Love for your friends, parents, siblings, all of it.)

"Love is something we all experience. But it's not just a feeling. It's  something complex and beyond our understanding. Love is sacrificing yourself for the other person. It's learning their needs, wants, hopes, dreams, fears, and beliefs. Love is understanding, respect, kindness, compassion, patience, warmth, comfort, care, laughter, peace, contentment, joy, and sacrifice. Love isn't just kisses and hugs and saying "I love you." It's running to the store for ice cream even if it's really our of the way. Love is something we all NEED and crave. It's a real thing that we all need just as much as food and water. It fills us, completes us. Without it, we are empty, weak, unstable, lonely, angry people. Love is such a beautiful, complex, wonderful, incredible word, it really need more letters. "

I know I have barely scratched the surface. But this is something that I feel strongly about. It's so bizarre to think that we depend on an emotion. It's something we need more then happiness or joy. In fact, I'd go as far to say it IS happiness and joy. It's something we never may fully understand, but it is something wonderful and pure.

So, if you've read this far, then thanks. :) I LOVE you all!!

-Felicia xx

Comments

  1. Wow, that was beautiful! and I think you are completely right, loving someone is being there for them, learning everything about them and excepting them. It's a thing we will never truly comprehend, like how the sky goes on forever. Also, when you like someone, you want to get to know that person more, and maybe become friends. Love's not just the mushy stuff:D

    I like posts like this, keep writing!<3, Kate

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  2. Love this post! I often contemplate this same thing. I have offense towards the word "love". To me, it doesn't even touch the surface of the true meaning. In the English language, "love" has acquired the definition of something romantic, but that's not the full definition of love. In Greek, there are 4 main words for love, Agape ( brotherly love, charity; the love of God for man and of man for God.), Eros (romantic love, passion), Philia (affectionate regard, friendship), and Storge (love, affection and especially of parents and children). I believe the English language makes us confused on the real meaning of the word, and consequently, the emotion.

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    1. I aploud you, Addy! I agree. We need for words for "love" in our language. Just "love" is not enough! <3

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  3. Addy, all correct, but there's one more. You can love someone, and be willing to get ice cream for them, but there's also the love one feels for ice cream. It's not one of the "main" loves, but sentimentality for inanimate objects can definitely be counted as a love

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    1. Yes. Love for icecream is inportant. ;)

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    2. Of course! That can not be forgotten!

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    3. Or would it be considered an appreciation?

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    4. Yeah, probably.

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    5. Poor analogy, I know, but there definitely is a love for non-sentient or inanimate animals or objects. Just wondering what to call it.

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  4. This is very well written Felicia. I have always said that love is a choice. And never is that more true than in a blended family! Love can be an emotion or feeling, but I think it is more of an action. I don't always FEEL like I love my blended family. I definitely don't always like them (and often people mistake liking and loving for the same thing; if you don't like someone, you must not love them) but I still choose to act in a loving manner, and that usually eventual brings feelings of love with it... feelings that stay present deep down even when you are busy not liking them :)

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  5. Also, Raphael - are you saying my cat is non-sentient?! He is to, and I do not hesitate to use the word love to explain my feelings for him. And because he is perfect, I almost never don't like him, which makes loving him way easier than loving most people I know lol! ;)

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    1. Your cat doesn't have a human soul--we can agree on that. Sentience can mean two things. The meaning that I was referring to was humanity. The four loves are referring to love by humans for humans. Your cat is quite sentient, in the sense that he has feelings. (Don't I know it!) The closest word for love that can apply here is Philia, and that isn't quite right.
      Point being: the four loves aren't adequate for what we wacko humans call love.

      Sorry, I'm long-winded sometimes. :P

      -Raphael

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    2. Hahaha! I was really only being half serious you know. I am not the kind that is always looking for a deep conversation ;) Especially when it comes to cats. That's what I like about them so much.... they are just them.

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    3. Ask any of my friends, I never risk assuming something is a joke. Unless it is, of course.

      And that excludes liking me. :P

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  6. Great reflection on love, Felicia. I wholeheartedly agree with you that love is not a feeling.....it's an ACTION. Love is to be LIVED, not felt. Oh, yes, the feelings of mushy wooshiness (is that a word?) are great, but, how often do those warm and fuzzy feelings change in a flash when someone does something we don't like?

    I've always thought St. Paul perfectly describes what love really is in his letter to the Corinthians:

    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.

    Wow, when I read this again, I can't help but think how I've failed in so many of those ways. Have I borne all things? Have I not sought my own? Have I not been rude or puffed myself up? *sigh* I've got a long way to go.

    Here's my own little version of what love is:
    Love is the sound of the wood saw in the basement;
    Love is throwing out the trash during a football game;
    It's waking up early to pack a lunch for someone else;
    Saying a prayer for someone who is struggling;
    Love is holding our tongues when we really want to scream;
    does not hold on to past hurts;
    it's closing the umbrella during a storm;
    is saying sorry even when you did nothing wrong.

    Radical, this love thing, eh? ;-)

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Hello! Thanks for leaving a comment, you just made my day a little brighter. :)

-Felicia Kathryn xxx

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