We all dreamt of the kind of love popularly depicted in films, books, and practically all sorts of arts and literature. Perfect love is exemplified in the Christian faith as the love that is kind, patient, does not envy, does not boast, etc. In the films, love is one of many splendored things. Love fuels another person’s strength, hope, courage, and even faith. Love is beautiful, love is wonderful. Almost perfect, too good to be true. But what is love really all about?
Poetry in Motion Quattlebaum book, author Raymond Quattlebaum delightfully uses poetry that signifies the love for life. The miracle of God, which is life, depicts God’s love and a chance to get to know who we are in this life.
What is love?
Love entails a very complex explanation. Love simply isn’t just a form of emotion. It is a form of reaction, a behavior often characterized by familiarity, passion, commitment, and intimacy. How love is seen differs for each person. A person’s perception of love is ultimately affected by their own experience, background, or education.
Love is typically grouped into four categories. There is the eros love, the physical, romantic, sensual kind of love. Philia love is the type of love shared among friends. Storge love is love commonly found amongst family, or the love between a parent and a child. Last but not least, Agape love is referred to as the highest form of love, which is the love of God towards men and vice versa.
For eons, science has tried to pinpoint the exact culminating definition of love, but apparently, it is one of the things that, mysteriously, seems to escape science. It is important to note that love is one of the major and vital human emotions that impacts a person’s overall well-being, that without it, man fails to function properly as a human being ought to.
Either as a cultural, biological, or psychological phenomenon, either triggered by hormones or not, we can all agree and safely say that, yes, the world, indeed, needs love.
Is there a perfect love?
The above question is almost akin to asking, “Is there such a thing as a perfect person?” “Is there such a thing as a perfect relationship?” “Is there such a thing as a perfect life?” No matter how many times we convince ourselves of ideal love, ideal partner, or ideal life, the truth is that perfect love does not exist.
The word perfect itself means that something is without any error, without a mistake, without a fault. Sounds too good to be true. But as human beings, it is in our nature to commit a mistake now and then because committing a mistake or something wrong is the only way a person can learn and grow. No one rides a bike and gets it right the first time they pedal. They actually fall and bruise their knees a couple of times before confidently getting themselves to ride a bike smoothly.
Perfect love does not exist, but real love does. Perfect love is an idea, a desire of what we hope a relationship should be. But in reality, even before a person comes close to becoming “the one,” they have to go through many challenges and hurdles. Aiming for a perfect love might be foolish, but it doesn’t mean we should totally discount this ideal.
The aim of the concept of perfect love should serve as a goal, a motivation to work towards it. Everyone should strive to be perfect, but then again, still, accept our flaws and limitations. Striving to become perfect or have a perfect relationship means working to become better persons and better partners that eventually will benefit a relationship or our situation in life.
Then there’s real love. Real love doesn’t happen overnight. It is the end reward for anyone who works hard to maintain and sustain their relationship. Real love is that unwavering devotion and desire for your partner that you’re willing to go through hell and back just to ensure your partner’s comfort or happiness. To experience real love means going through the negative and the positive notions in life, taking both the good and the bad.
In the end, we ask ourselves, does perfect love exist only in dreams? Possibly it appears only in dreams. Then again, does it really matter? Love is, after all, a good, positive, and warm emotion. It can be any type of love, but what’s important is love is shared and valued. That is the closest thing we can have to perfect love. That is probably what matters the most.
The Happy Hammock 