What is love? I've answered this on my blog twice, so ya'll should know the answer by now. Just kidding. I don't even know the answer.
Let's start with five propositions:
1) Love is unconditional.
2) Love is a story of sacrifice.
3) Love is watching someone who is close to you die in your arms.
4) Love is God.
5) Love is mirthful human expression.
Why do so many people accept a few of the propositions and not the others? It is understandable; my little formula for love is only a single view. It is only the opinion of a 21-year-old Asian kid in California. But many of us would accept the first proposition, do you not believe so? Well, here are my five points to address the five propositions above:
1) Love is unconditional.
2) Love is a story of sacrifice.
3) Love is watching someone who is close to you die in your arms.
4) Love is God.
5) Love is mirthful human expression.
Why do so many people accept a few of the propositions and not the others? It is understandable; my little formula for love is only a single view. It is only the opinion of a 21-year-old Asian kid in California. But many of us would accept the first proposition, do you not believe so? Well, here are my five points to address the five propositions above:
1) Well, if you don't believe love should be unconditional, read some Ayn Rand: particularly the "love" scenes in Atlas Shrugged. Tell me Ayn Rand thinks love should be unconditional.
2). Love is a story of sacrifice. Read http://shouldauld.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-is-love-pt-2.html for a longer explanation.
2). Love is a story of sacrifice. Read http://shouldauld.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-is-love-pt-2.html for a longer explanation.
3) Cool story, but obviously, being at someone's deathbed isn't exactly a definition of love. It's what loved ones do. Ideally, we'll all be able to be at our parents' deathbeds as they pass away. But few people get that luxury, and the quicker you notice this, the more readily you'll be able to appreciate the people around you.
4) http://shouldauld.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-love.html
5) I don't want to sound arrogant here, but that one is true.
Lemme go out on a limb and say that a lot of religious people will have no problem accepting my five propositions. However, let me just step on my soapbox and criticize religious people (including me) for a moment: you shouldn't accept anyone's definition of love so easily. Love is love. Love cannot be explained away. It takes place with real people in real situations, not in some abstract theory you or I might have in our heads.
That is love: the endless pursuit to love someone you cannot for all rational reasons or purposes justify completely to yourself. Imagine you are in a sea and you are drowning. But as you are falling into the abyss, you see a blue light out of the corner of your eye: you could swear you saw no such thing five minutes ago. And as you are running out of breath, you decide to swim again. You decide that for all your past effort, your life is worth it. Yeah, you tried getting yourself out: swimming to the top; it didn't work. But maybe because of or regardless of your seeing the light, you know it is within you to love life. And life opens outward; a blue buoy thrown by a passerby fisherman has crossed your path. He (the fisherman) sees you in the water and that you are drowning. He dives in. You are losing consciousness and barely hanging on, but you keep on trying to tread water and lift your body upward. He catches you, holds you, and swims to the surface. The fisherman and his buddies circle around you. He does CPR on your lifeless body. After mouth-to-mouth, you wake with the fervor of a newly-born person. You live.
4) http://shouldauld.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-love.html
5) I don't want to sound arrogant here, but that one is true.
Lemme go out on a limb and say that a lot of religious people will have no problem accepting my five propositions. However, let me just step on my soapbox and criticize religious people (including me) for a moment: you shouldn't accept anyone's definition of love so easily. Love is love. Love cannot be explained away. It takes place with real people in real situations, not in some abstract theory you or I might have in our heads.
That is love: the endless pursuit to love someone you cannot for all rational reasons or purposes justify completely to yourself. Imagine you are in a sea and you are drowning. But as you are falling into the abyss, you see a blue light out of the corner of your eye: you could swear you saw no such thing five minutes ago. And as you are running out of breath, you decide to swim again. You decide that for all your past effort, your life is worth it. Yeah, you tried getting yourself out: swimming to the top; it didn't work. But maybe because of or regardless of your seeing the light, you know it is within you to love life. And life opens outward; a blue buoy thrown by a passerby fisherman has crossed your path. He (the fisherman) sees you in the water and that you are drowning. He dives in. You are losing consciousness and barely hanging on, but you keep on trying to tread water and lift your body upward. He catches you, holds you, and swims to the surface. The fisherman and his buddies circle around you. He does CPR on your lifeless body. After mouth-to-mouth, you wake with the fervor of a newly-born person. You live.
