Love

People have been interested in love since Plato or earlier, but there has long been resistance to defining love. Some feel they know instinctively what love is - so why bother to define it? Other dare not try to try and unlock loves secrets for fear it’s magical mystery would be lost forever.

In recent years social scientists have been taking a closer look at love and research has produced some interesting findings. One theory "The Triangle Theory" suggests that love can be divided into three components: intimacy, passion and commitment and these components can be further broken down into three stages: general, individual, and personal.

Many studies on love include investigations into the different types of love, and various differences in the way men and women express love. These studies have been helpful in understanding love. For instance, It has been demonstrated in test results that women lean toward love based on friendship and shared interests, and that women admit more than men to suffering from jealous or dependent love.

Generally, love is thought of in terms of either romance or companionship. Case studies revealed: "The better the relationship, the more one will go to the subsequent level of Intimacy". Those desiring "True Love" or Intimacy in love will need to be open-minded, and willing to explore loves many parts and facets that make up complete love.

Employing terminology from Greek and Latin, I will attempt to explain what Some of the pieces of love are. It is important that you understand it is possible to love with partial love (not all the parts) and you can experience love that is very deep in many ways, but it is never complete love unless all the parts make it whole.

Eros: Sexual Love. Physical Love evoked because of Physical Attraction or an expression of love, physically.

Ludis: Flirtatious, Teasing Love. This type of love is associated with a teen-age kind of love. Game playing often resulting in a fleeting type of quick romance. Ludis is an outward expression of love. It is urging in a tantalizing way to excite another without intending to satisfy their desire aroused. Furthermore, is most often intended to arouse another to physical attraction, which can lead to Eros "sexual Love". It is not the same as to woo or embrace in love.

Philo: Brotherly Love. Love that is generated and/or related because of a common bond. Love that is banded together in unity and cooperation, with like interests and for mutual benefit. Love working toward a common goal.

Storge: Friendship Love. Friendship love, involving respect and concern for another person’s interest. This love contains more companionship than excitement. It’s root is in: "To Store Up".

Pragma: Logical Love. This is for people who worry whether their partner wood be a good parent. It is the kind of love that is based on shared interests and common backgrounds. This love is influenced by a system of principles, and the application of reason, and deductions to common experiences that describe and define relationships among propositions in terms of implications, contradictions, and contrariety. It is an expectant love that is accustomed to it’s own doctrine and theory. Pragma Love is: Unification though common goals and interests.

Mania: Smothering Love. Possessive, dependent, jealous love. Mania is a trademark of "Fatal Attraction love ." It is a mentally excited, excessive and persistent love. This type of love is like an obsession or craving. It can lead to exaggerated feelings and excessiveness.

Agape: Divine Love.  Self-sacrificing love. Altruistic love that is experienced by people willing to do things for another person with no expectations. Precious, beloved, and esteemed love.

It has been the finding of many tests that women have a greater tendency toward storge and pragma love. Women identify more with mania love, or at least more willing to admit those traits than men.

Other researchers have examined the physiology of love and have found that parent-child attachments affect our adult love relationships and our beliefs about love. Love can be alive and passionate with intense affection, attraction, and deep devotion between people or it can be a smattered, hollow, unappreciated, worthless word to those who have never enjoy complete love..