The Nature Of Love

A topic I really don't feel qualified to talk about. Honestly, I only have my own experiences to fall back on, and I've only been alive for 44 years. Not a lot of time to figure out such a grand emotion. But today one of my Facebook friends posted a quote on the subject of love and I participated in a bit of a discussion. Deep philosophical subject, love is.

One thing pertaining to love is the notion of unconditional love. It's something I've always found deeply puzzling. A noble concept, but how realistic is it? Really. Stop and think about it. Personally, my love has conditions. It is often said of pets, and of dogs in particular, that we experience unconditional love from them. I've heard stories of abused dogs licking the hand that beats them and it breaks my heart. But I like to think that I am a bit more evolved than dogs. I'm a survivor of an abusive relationship and it was only when I scraped up enough of a smidgen of love and respect for myself that I was able to walk away. Because my love has conditions and one of them is that if you want me to love you, you will not abuse me. An extreme example perhaps, but it makes sense. And quite frankly, the older I get, the more practical I get, even in matters of the heart.

And people have what I think are unrealistic romantic notions of the concept of love. The kind of love that lasts forever. And yes, there are such examples, most notably when you are talking about the love you feel for a child. There is no emotion that quite touches that. But life in general is transitory, therefore all that life encompasses must also be transitory. And why not love as well? And if the love you once felt for someone has faded, that makes it no less real. It was real and important at one point in your life, and that's good enough for me. After all, love is generally a good thing and the more times you experience it, the more enriched is your life.