Love

I've written posts on economic policy, religion, travel, socialism and sociology, but I have never really discussed an underlying and important concept that runs through everything. Love.

There are several kinds of love. Love for your partner or soul mate, love for your parents, siblings and children, love for your friends and also the more Buddhist and seldom discussed love for your fellow human and the universe in general. An enlightened person (from the Buddhist point of view) is one who deeply feels this love for the universe before any other emotion. My opinion is that this sort of love is the highest attainable goal for all humans and requires years of study and thought to acheive. But the most often sought after love is the love for a partner. And will be the topic of my little 'late night unable to sleep' rant (maybe not the best time to write posts).

It is a fairly common discussion that 'the word love gets thrown around too easily these days'. I have heard this conversation a number of times and I agree wholeheartedly. How often do you see people claiming they are in love before jumping ship at the first sign of inclement weather?

I blame the way our world has become so individualisitic, people choose their partners because there is something in it for them. As soon as love needs to be requited for it to exist and flourish it is nothing more than a self-serving agenda.

When someone tells you they love you it is very hard not to believe them, we all want to be loved and if someone is throwing the L-word at us we will very happily take it. But with the issue of that word being used too flippantly, I think it comes down to not understanding what the price of love is. People suddenly feel these intense emotions and think they can't bear to live without the object of their affections, they burst with professions of love and desire. But when faced with hardship and personal sacrifice they quietly eat their words and pretend that something else was to blame other than their own unripe spirit and selfish perspective.

Love is pain, it is sacrifice, it means swallowing pride and deflating the ego, it means putting oneself second or third or last. It is not a joyride of romance and happiness.

It is the most fullfilling and enriching experience that colours what would otherwise be a monochrome life, but it is not within the reach of those people whose personal ambitions take priority.