I was in the process of writing this poem ( of the Answer, To Her Lullabies series), that I began to question myself; inquiring from myself of what is love? This post is the result of that question, and this small project.
Yes, Love is difficult, if not impossible, to be orally described to someone else. It’s a feeling. It’s a concept given birth to by a mixture of chemicals —— dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. Yes, it is easy to draw it’s chemical structure than to accurately describe to someone else; especially so if that someone else is not really close to our own way of perceiving things.
Chemical Formula and Structure Of Love
It’s a feeling that maybe manifests itself as fleeting, impermanent, permanent, never existent, full existent, self-conscious, non-conscious, shy, exuberant, loud, noiseless, silent, etc. And, it can also manifest as all of the above adjectives combined.
Then, add to this above mixture, and chemical formula the fact that how we feel, how much of it we feel, how much of it we let ourselves feel, how we reciprocate when we feel it being handed over to us, by others or how we do not reciprocate it — all of this, depends upon the type of relationships that we create, share; it depends too on the foundations of our bonds, on the quality of our circumstances, our individualistic life experiences, of the communities we are part of, of the way we look at our own societies. This feeling of love, also has these self constructed contained boundaries, gaps, definitions, tags, etc.
xkcd - Baring My Heart
All of this, and yet it is a feeling that is not easily ignored. It can, and does affect our actions, for better or worse. It’s also a produce from the need of being accepted, protected, and of forming connections, and bonds.
So, What Is Love?
I strongly feel that it is our own perception of how we feel towards our own selves, our perception of how we feel about the world around us, about society. It is the perception of us perceiving our bonds, relationships, society and people. It’s a construct, a concept that is formed of what we feel when the chemicals interact; a construct that we perceive the need for, so as to describe the potent, intoxicating mixture that we label as love.
Cyanide and happiness - Aloe You Vera Much?
