What does "Love" mean?What is love? There are many thoughts and beliefs that people hold about what it is. (Note: "L-word will be used for the L-word so the SEO bots stay happy.)
"A Course in Miracles" has a lot to say about this topic as well, but it's definition is quite different than what most people think.
Romantic L-word must be mutual and returned by both parties. If this state doesn't exist in both parties it is "unrequited" L-word which is different and generally considered undesireable.
Romantic L-word is highly conditional. You probably think that you can only truly "L-word" a certain type of person, those that are a right match, or cosmically linked to you, or compatiable with your likes and dislikes. Or (gulp) there is only ONE person for you in the whole world (i.e. "THE ONE")
Also, in the case of my wife and I, I think she feels that our marriage is a lot like a service level agreement in business.
If I were to change my mind about providing her the services that she has come to expect, I think she would re-consider her desire to keep "L-ing" me.
For instance, if I were to quit my job and move home and live with my mother, I'm not sure if my wife would come with me.
There are a lot of other conditions that I could name that further illustrate the point that "romantic" L-word is highly conditional.
Another kind of "L-word" might really be called infatuation. This is when you meet someone new and are "Smitten". This has happened to me several times throughout my life and when it was over, I realized that I was merely indulging in an illusion.
I projected onto the this other person a sort of "halo" affect in which they seemed "perfect" for me.
Infatuation is definitely not really "L-word" and I think most people get that. Another kind of "L-word" is the kind a parent has for a child, and the child has for the parent. This parent-child "L-word" is less conditional than romantic "L-word". I think the "L-word" a child feels for a parent has more conditions that the parent for the child, but not always.
Then people get sex and lust confused with the idea and meaning of "L-word" which I think since we have different words for lust and sex, we shouldn't confuse sex and lust for "L-word"...they are just different.
People also talk about loving things and activities: I L-word pizza! I L-word shoes! I L-word downhill skiing! I L-word playing computer games! I L-word beer!
Maybe, what we mean is that, I enjoy this thing/activity so much, it's "like" the L-word...but it's not really...or maybe it is...what do I know.
Finally, there is the kind of "L-word" that comes from God. "A Course in Miralces" suggests that God's "L-word" is unconditional.
This is type of love that is the "no kidding, no-matter-what" God continues to love. This is a really a neat idea to me. Regardless of what I do, God loves me.
This kind of love is also called "The opposite of Fear"
It's funny to me that we use a word so often and hardly have a clue what we mean.
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