What is love? Love is all-encompassing, crossing time and space, that even sometimes science cannot explain. Love is symbolized, seen as people holding hands and hugging each other. Love is about those hearts, flowers, and chocolates celebrated every Valentine’s Day. Love is when somebody looks at and takes care of another person. And love is in the eyes of the beholder. For author Wendy Veronica Lisare, in her book The Other Side Of Fear, My Journey Into Perfect Love, love is God, the knowledge of God’s love. Everyone has their idea and perception of what love is. Love is also defined based on a person’s experience, ordeal, what they have gone through in life, and how life has shaped them.
What are the different faces of love?
Although love as a theme is very broad, it has been narrowed down to several types to make it more refined when it comes to its identity. Love may often be associated with that warm, cozy feeling, but there is a distinction in applying it in real life. Read on to find out the most common types of love usually seen out there.
Agape
Agape is all about the love of mankind. It is a kind of love that’s modeled off of God’s love for man, and God’s love is unconditional and unrequited, a love that has no expectation or self-benefit for the giver. It is often referred to as the highest type of love, especially in Christianity.
Eros
Perhaps the most popular type of love and a favorite subject in most literature. Eros love is the erotic, passionate, or sexual love epitomized by lovers in books and movies. An addicting kind of love, this love tends more towards or focuses on a person’s sexuality or the physical and sensual intimacy between two persons.
Philia
Philia is the love among friends, or what is known as brotherly love. It is a healthy kind of love that is very much encouraged. It’s associated with feel-good emotions and is good for a person’s overall health. Being involved and surrounded in this kind of relationship makes a person strong, healthy, and resilient.
Storge
Familial love or the kind of love between a parent and a child is known as storge. Sometimes, storge is also connected with tender love, just like the care shown to the older family member or the elderlies. It is a kind of love that’s deep, yet tender, caring, and protective.
How to find love?
Intriguing, isn’t it? For those looking for love outside of the family or those seeking the deeper kind of love often depicted in literature, how does a person know where to start looking for love and know that it is love when they finally encounter it? It’s best to remember that, based on the above, love comes in different forms. What would appear love to one may seem like a different love to another.
The search for love would depend upon the person looking for it. It would depend upon the person’s taste, preference, or background experience of what love is or love should be like. But for those who are looking to get a good head start in looking for that “love,” here are some tips that they might find helpful:
Meet with like-minded people
Love is often formed between people sharing the same interest. So there’s a huge chance that if a person is looking for love, they will find it among events or social groups they are interested in. It could be in clubs or organizations sharing the same kind of passion or any social circle shared among like-minded people.
Love yourself
A significant attracting factor in a person is how well they take care of themselves and how happy they are with their life. Having a healthy amount of self-love and having a happy and optimistic disposition often attracts people from all walks of life. Their radiating positivity is like a beacon that everyone wants to get close with.
Know the kind of love you’re looking for
It is best to identify the kind of love you’re looking for to prevent any regrets in future relationships. Know yourself if you’re ready to make any serious commitment or not. Discern your likes and dislikes, and take note of which take priority for you. The line between sexual love and familial love is often blurred, and it’s up to you if you’re willing to commit yourself to a love that needs to work on, especially if it’s a love that started out as a physical attraction.
Love is all-encompassing and often reckoned as the most powerful force in this life. Love can move mountains, a telling that love can make a person overcome all odds just for the ones they love. Love has many faces, but love truly lies in the eyes of the beholder.
The Happy Hammock 