Love is:

[leftofthedial]

Poll question: Love is:

[KitchenWitch]

1. all of the above

[Deja Q]

2. the exchange of two fantasies

[khashka]

7. Enlightenment or Persuasion?

If Persuasion... I hope it's friendly.

Khash, some Peter Davison guy.

[leftofthedial]

21. and the occasional bodily fluids

give and take

back and forth

in and out

[MissHoneychurch]

3. nothing no one can live without

no matter is it love between partners, between parents and kids, between friends ...

[NMMNG]

8. Bingo

I heard one of those "E-harmony" radio ads the other day and they made some reference about love being the "most important thing". I was like, :eyes: that tripe that people try to sell is part of why there is so much anxiety, depression and suicide in the world. Face it, the world is not going to stop spinning if you don't have a mate. You are still a whole person even if you are single. You can be alone and be happy. :party: Don't buy the lie!

[leftofthedial]

24. doesn't that just make one a pathetic wanker?

(sort of kidding) :-)

edited to "one," because I didn't mean you personally

[leftofthedial]

58. are you saying we can't live without it

or we can live without it?

I love my kids. I don't believe I could live without that.

Romantic "love" though, seems ever more illusory to me.

[MissHoneychurch]

65. actually I ment can't live without it

[leftofthedial]

66. to agree with that statement

I'd have to define "love" pretty generally, I think.

Right now, the only love that seems clear to me is a family bond.

[RandomKoolzip]

4. Of.

[khashka]

5. Some Fools Think

of happiness, blissfulness, togetherness
Some fools fool themselves I guess
But they're not fooling me

Love hurts.

Khash.

[leftofthedial]

6. Felice and Boudleaux

yup

[last_texas_dem]

11. Amen

I love that song, and the older and more cynical I get the more it resonates.

[leftofthedial]

29. it's one of the best ever

Several truly great versions of it too.

It directly and eloquently speaks the simple, profound truth.

[expatriot]

9. devotion: to love is to devote yourself....

Devote: To give or apply (one's time, attention, or self) entirely to a particular activity, pursuit, cause, or person.

If you love a song or chocolate, you devote your attention to it. If you love your family, you devote some time to get back to visit them. If you love your country, you devote some time and some of your money helping Democrats. If you love your life partner, you devote your life to them.

[leftofthedial]

19. so, it's a scam then?

(just kidding!)

:-)

[unsavedtrash]

10. a nose and you better not pick it.

:freak:

[leftofthedial]

23. a frozen flagpole and you better not lick it

[AVulgarianHue]

12. Better than a bus ride to Chicago

I have never been to Chicago; it seems hard to argue and since this phrase is always my first response to: love is...

even though it is the only phrase I heard, or paid attention to, when Rod McKuen spoke it from an album playing at a party

I must find it an agreeable sentiment even though I've never been on a bus ride to Chicago.

[leftofthedial]

28. faint praise

damn!

[koopie57]

13. Love is a friendship

that has caught on fire. It is a loyalship through good and bad. It feels safe and is a place where I can crawl into and get away from all the ugliness in the world.

[leftofthedial]

20. so i'ts an illusion then?

yours is part of what I used to believe, but it didn't prove out for me, so now I don't believe that anymore.

[baron j]

14. Love is a warm bun...

Mmmmm! Doughnuts!

[leftofthedial]

27. donuts have a big hole in the middle, don't they?

hmm. cake or raised?

[lildreamer316]

15. A song by Alannah Myles .

points if you remember it...

[leftofthedial]

34. no points for me . . .

:-(

[MercutioATC]

16. Like Oxygen

You get too much you get too high
Not enough and you're gonna die.

Love gets you high.

[leftofthedial]

31. I think love is like BEING high

but you know you must come down eventually. Then you are left wondering "what the f***?" and swearing never to do that again.

[MercutioATC]

36. I'm no expert (I'm divorced)

...obviously I'm also too subtle (my original post was song lyrics by Sweet)

[leftofthedial]

41. maybe divorce makes one an expert

[MercutioATC]

43. Not in my case...

:)


I AM a lot more mellow now, however.

[ghostsofgiants]

17. A battlefield!

[leftofthedial]

22. the wise person chooses their battles

very carefully

and fights to win

doesn't sound like love to me, but it often works out that way

[SarahB]

18. Better than I remembered.

Better than anything.

Sometimes scary.

Mostly, a miracle. :)

[leftofthedial]

26. I can't remember the good parts very distinctly

it's a weird amnesia, like how women are said to forget the pain of childbirth

I remember there was good and great joy there once. I just can't bring those feelings clearly to memory

"miracle" (as in "doesn't really happen") and "illusion" are my current feeligns about love.

[SarahB]

48. You're going through a divorce, right?

Mine was final a few months ago. I spent years unhappy. Years! However, when you have a bunch of little kids (which I had before my ex-husband developed some serious problems) and no one to help, it's gets pretty damned hard to figure out how to get out. Over two years ago, I told myself, "Once I finish school, I'm leaving this marriage." Ultimately, I couldn't wait that long because I felt like I was going mad with him, so I told him well over a year ago that I wanted out. It was finally final 3 months ago.

I had resolved within myself quite awhile ago that I was going to be alone for a very long time. Sure, maybe I'd date sometimes. Heck, I might even have sex with someone once in awhile if it seemed right, but love? Actual love? That just was for other people and all it brought me was, well, not a lot really. Not angry, not bitter, just probably content and comfortable with myself and to essentially just be alone.

That was until I met him. Ever have this image of this person that seems so perfect (not really perfect, just perfect for you) that you don't even believe they could actually exist? That's how we feel about each other. I don't mean anything in terms of anything shallow, but the stuff that really matters. We are amazed in every second together because we are so grateful for every ounce of pain that brought us to one another. If that sounds stupid or silly or whatever to the rest of the world, it kind of doesn't matter to me anymore. This isn't about anything else other than myself and my love for him.

I hope one day you know what this can feel like or know again. I believe our Karma comes when we're ready and when we least expect it.

[leftofthedial]

53. I am happy for you

Maybe some day I'll believe in it again.

[leftofthedial]

63. better than anything

good for you!

:thumbsup:

[no name no slogan]

25. love is...

difficult without genitalia? :shrug:

[leftofthedial]

47. so love is sex?

that's part of what I believe.

I think it is a defense mechanism to help us to tolerate someone long enough to breed and raise kids.

I don't know how to explain "love" between non-breeders. mass hysteria or hallucination or delusion.

I just find it hard to believe anymore, except as a temporary phenomenon easily explained in terms of physical attraction, without some pretty serious convolutions of its apparent meaning.

[Wapsie B]

30. great when it's a mutual feeling.

When it's a one-way attraction it's the worst feeling in the world.

[leftofthedial]

42. is that really love?

[Wapsie B]

49. what do you mean?

[leftofthedial]

56. can love be a one-sided thing and really be love

as opposed to infatuation or lust or something else?

[Wapsie B]

59. well i guess if one deludes themselves as i have

into thinking a certain woman loved me then it sure feels like how love is supposed to feel. isn't lust part of that feeling, at least for the early stages of love? i know i want a woman who i lust after and who lusts after me.

[leftofthedial]

62. I guess if it's real to you

it's real

[GOPisEvil]

32. Rare and elusive.

[leftofthedial]

39. like Bigfoot?

[GOPisEvil]

40. Sort of, but not as hairy.

:)

Edit - unless, of course, you're into that which is fine, too.

[leftofthedial]

44. I have this picture of love shuffling along

in a grainy film shot on a hand-held camera

pausing once to look over its shoulder at you, then hurrying into the trees never to be seen again . . .

[GOPisEvil]

45. In my case, love shoots the finger at me before disappearing.

:eyes:

[leftofthedial]

57. ain't that the truth

[no name no slogan]

33. "without love, your @$$ ain't NOTHING."

...as comic Steve Harvey has said.

and he's absolutely right. even through the heartbreak and pain, there's nothing quite like it. it's what separates us from beasts and makes us human beings.

love conquers hate. love kicks ass. love rules.

:thumbsup:

[leftofthedial]

37. I don't think it separates us from beasts

my dog's love is purer and more lasting than my wife's love ever was (it turns out)

I used to believe it was the eternal, transcendant force that you describe, but now I think love is a lie, an illusion, a trick we play on ourselves and on each other

i hope it is what you say, for you

[no name no slogan]

46. well, i'm in the middle of a rotten divorce

and i still REFUSE to give up on love. maybe i'm insane, but i've gotten more love from family and friends in the last 2.5 months than i ever imagined possible.

yeah, i've been burned before, quite badly. my soon-to-be-ex told me after ten years together that she no longer loved me and wanted a divorce-- no warning, no explanation, no chance to work on the relationship. yeah, it hurt like hell, being completely and utterly rejected from somebody who you thought was your soulmate.

but you know what? i'd do it again (not with her, but with someone else)-- all of it-- in a second. why? because those moments when there was love were worth it.

there's nothing greater than love. NOTHING.

[leftofthedial]

51. Pearl Harbor sucks

I'm glad you haven't given up. Good luck.

[LincolnMcGrath]

35. LOVE IS LIKE A ROCK

LOVE IS LIKE A ROCK
Donnie Iris


Love is Like a Rock
You can't depend on your teacher
You can't depend on your preacher
You can't depend on politicians
You can't depend on superstitions
CHORUS
Love can rock you
Never stop you
Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah,
Love is like a rock
You can't rely on Mother Nature
You can't rely on your paychecks
You can't depend on your doctor
You can't depend on your lawyer
REPEAT CHORUS

[leftofthedial]

55. love is like a rock

upside your head sometimes too.

[Napoleon Dynamite]

38. never having to say you're sorry

like in Love Story

[leftofthedial]

50. how'd I forget that one in my poll?

that's apparently my ex's definition

she wouldn't apologize if she accidentally ran over you in her car.

the flip side of that is like her, feeling SHE never has to say she's sorry (as opposed to me never requiring it of her). But that is also known as being a sociopath. Very bushturd-like.

[no name no slogan]

52. sounds like mine

everything is/was MY problem, not hers. because i was depressed, it was all my fault-- she was "perfect".

i know what you're going through. in the last few months, my world has been turned upside down: i lost my partner, my house, spent a week in a psych ward, and damn near lost my job too.

but i've gained much more: some very good friends, a new appreciation of what's good in my life, a new perspective on what makes me truly happy.

hang in there. things look bleak now, but they do get better. :hug:

[leftofthedial]

54. no psych ward, but I did lose a great job

thanks for the encouragement!

[leftofthedial]

64. it's not so bleak really

(except for my kids not sleeping under my roof every night)

it's just that I've lost faith in love.

[Chicago Democrat]

60. Mostly a chemical response

I HDLC you.

[leftofthedial]

61. is this lou reed? LOL that's kind of what I think

it's a complex version of lust

biochemical and emotional and we want it to last forever, so we make up this myth called love to convince ourselves and the other person that it is "real"