Is love real?

[im_a_luckycharm]

I have a question for everyone. Is love real? Or is love a romantic illusion that we created? If it exists, does it last forever? And if 'nothing last forever' like people tell me, what's the point of pouring your heart into someone only to have them leave you some day?

I'm curious to hear other people's opinions on this.

[geonagual]

To me, it seems like a crap shoot..you are never sure how long it is going to last so enjoy it today and forget about tomorrow.

[birdgirl73]

I think it's real, but I also know that my conception of love is filtered through my own experience and that everyone has a different experience. I can't say whether it's real for someone else. Not sure if that made sense. I guess that might be another way of saying that, in many ways, it IS a creation (but not necessarily an illusion to its creator).

[geonagual]

I think it's real, but I also know that my conception of love is filtered through my own experience and that everyone has a different experience. I can't say whether it's real for someone else. Not sure if that made sense. I guess that might be another way of saying that, in many ways, it IS a creation (but not necessarily an illusion to its creator).

WOW! I really didnt understand that...
wait, 2nd time through...ok I get it..I think a lot of time love is confused for lust..I think we all want to be loved more than anything.

[birdgirl73]

Yeah, they do get confused. And I think between people of the opposite sex (assuming they're hetero) lust and love can travel together. I think lust works better when there's love, in fact. Yep, I agree. Our desire to be loved is huge. We're sheltered and nurtured in a warm safe place after we're conceived and fed and nurtured as babies and children, at least if things are done right. I think those of us who were healthily psychologically attached as babies spend the rest of our lives seeking that same sort of closeness and nurturing and sustenance. That's my thinking on love right now, at least. I don't know that it's true, but it makes sense to me.

[CanaDanKs Inc.]

In a way.. isn't "love" kindda "created" in our brains through chemical modifications triggered from our experiences? Jumping off a cliff makes me feel fucking weird, running 20 peaceful miles also makes me feel different, just like coming home and seeing a tasty meal on the table will erase whatever is on my mind. Now when I see a beautiful young lady I also start feeling altered...doesn't life seem so much more interesting now?

When my bee frequents a juicy flower, there's a major chemical buzz going, no doubt.

I don't know, is love real?

[birdgirl73]

That's a good point, Cana D. Chemicals in our brain (hormones, specifically) play a huge role in it.

[napolitana869]

love is a cultural construct. It exists for us because we've grown up with the concept of it. Love is not a universal concept.

[Coelho]

It makes sense... i would risk that love is the cultural response to the alterations produced by the hormones... which, causes the lovers to feel like nurtured and cared babies...

[CanaDanKs Inc.]

I think we just figured out the mystery of love!

[crudemood]

love is definately real.
"i can feel it in my fingers, i can feel it in my toes" LOL

[GraziLovesMary]

Awesome topic, I have a somewhat metaphysical view on love and emotion in general. The way I see it, emotions are vibrations of our personal energy. Which would make sense when taking into account that different emotional states of mind produce different colored auras for those who believe in that sort of thing. I can easily see the chemical interactions that take place with feelings of love being a product of the means... a transliteration of energy to tangible stimuli, if you will.

Emotions are real, in my opinion, and extremely powerful. And love is by far the most powerful of them all. One year when D.C. was once again the murder capital, 100 Zen Buddhist monks went there to meditate upon feelings of love, compassion, peace and serenity. The murder rate dropped that year by some 17%. That is fucking phenomenal, and if that isnt a witness to the tangible effect of emotion, then I dont know what is.

I love all of humanity... I have so much love, you would think it would be unbearable, however the nature of love is quizzical in that manner. It seems the more you love, and the more people you love, the easier it is, and the more love is returned. However with such intense emotions comes the risk of opposing forces. Evil and hatred is something that I have struggled with my entire life, as I have always been extremely intense.

The difference between love and hatred is so powerful that when confronted by extreme examples, you have no choice but to acknowledge their existence. When I am filled with infinite love, I feel almost as if I am extracting power and energy from the very air that surrounds me, as if the space around me is permeated by it. I can almost feel it flow through me, and then out again, to be recycled and reconstituted.

Evil is another story. During times in my life when I was feeling very hateful, I allowed it to get out of my control for periods. Its a different sort of powerful feeling. Instead of a warm energy flowing into you, and flowing out to those you love, it is like a negative. A nothingness. Analagous to how cold is the absense of heat energy, hate is the absense of love energy. A void with enough gravity to suck all emotion into yourself, only for it to be dispersed into nothingness. The power that I feel when filled with hatred is much more reckless, but also much more tangibly immediate. Which I guess would explain its easy seduction. I scare myself when I allow it to get out of hand like that, so I have nearly admonished the feeling from my cortex. However, I cannot let go of it just yet, for I know in the near future, I will need to use it for the greater good. Im just not sure how..

Wow..... A simple question and related responses has produced some buried feelings...

phenomenal..

[Canadian_Cron]

definetly...

love is one of those things where you just know...

[crudemood]

nothing is forever though thats for sure.

[Innominate]

Love is your natural driving force to procreate.

[Canadian_Cron]

i think loves real... although ive never been in "real" love, ive really liked or cared about some girls tho... like iunno you ever just meet someone and hit it off right away, or know someone that just "gets/understands" you?

to me love is someone that you can trust, is loyal, who you can have fun with, makes you laugh, and like like spending time with even if your not doing anything special at the time. you just mutually care about eachother as much, if not more than you care about yourself, and enjoy doing special things for eachother... i donno mabye i think of love differently than most.

[slipknotpsycho]

love is realy only if you make it real....

you can have the perfect mate, and yet neither of you love... because you don't make it work....

nothing ever JUST works.... it takes work to make it work

[Nailhead]

definetly...

love is one of those things where you just know...

Isn't that what everyone says before they have a divorce?

Love is just a mixture of chemicals flowing around in the brain, it isn't anything spiritual or supernatural, it is what it is and it is nothing more than a chemical reaction in the body. "True Love" is really just "True Ignorance" because most people claiming "true love" only do so after ignoring characteristics of another person in order to allow that person to fit into their fantasy view of a "soul mate".

Over the history of humankind people have fallen in and out of love many times, and there has never been any specific method of attaining everlasting love.

Rather than looking for "true love" people should just look for personal happiness. Nobody should ever be with somebody that doesn't make them happy, part of having a happy life is being honest with yourself and your feelings and understanding when you are sacrificing your happiness for a "true love" fantasy. This is why I say just concentrate on personal happiness, if you are not happy alone then you have something wrong with you and should not be looking for another person to fill that void, because it will not work long term.