“The one thing we can never get enough of is love. And the one thing we never give enough of is love” – Henry Miller
All of us have an intense desire to be loved and nurtured. The need to be loved, could be considered one of our most basic and fundamental needs. The term “love” refers to more than just romantic love; it also refers to love between a parent and a child, love between brothers and sisters, and love given by a person to an animal, but we will focus on romantic love in this series. Intimacy, or the need to be physically close to someone, is a common expression of love. It’s not surprising that most of us attribute a great deal of weight to our perception of being loved and cared for as a major factor in our level of contentment. People rank having healthy relationships as one of their top goals, alongside living a happy and fulfilling life.
It’s difficult to define exactly what love is because its meaning means something very different to everyone. Most people frequently confuse love with lust, attraction, and companionship.
Here are four perspectives on love
- According to psychologist Zick Rubin, romantic love is made up of three elements: Attachment: Needing to be with another person and desiring physical contact and approval. Caring: Valuing the other person’s happiness and needs as much as your own. Intimacy: Sharing private thoughts, feelings, and desires with the other person.
- Dr. Scott Peck, a psychiatrist and author, proposed that love is the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth… Love is as love does. Love is an act of will — namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.
- According to author Dr. Sue Palmer-Conn, love is a set of emotions and behaviours characterised by intimacy, passion, and commitment. It involves care, closeness, protectiveness, attraction, affection, and trust. She thinks that while love is often accompanied by optimistic feelings like joy, excitement, contentment, and euphoria, it can also bring about less desirable ones like jealousy and stress.
- According to Dr. Lisa Firestone, the best way to think of love is as a verb. She holds that while people frequently worry about how their partner feels or how the relationship appears, love is dynamic and requires action in order to thrive, and that in order to connect with and maintain love in a relationship, we must take loving actions.
Despite the fact that love is among the most researched behaviours, it remains one of the least understood. As a result, there is no single best definition of love. Although there isn’t a single definition of love that almost everyone can agree on, researchers do agree that love is important for both physical and psychological health. Numerous studies have shown that love increases self-esteem and confidence, and reduces stress, which is a common denominator for a variety of mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression.
Finally, the pursuit of love is an ideal that unites all people. It’s important to think about your own personal definition of love. Love is a broad concept that has different meanings for different people. The work of these four authors represents a significant advance in our knowledge of romantic love and paves the way for further study of this fascinating phenomenon. Today, researchers are still learning more about the nuances of love and how it impacts both physical and mental health. It’s important to keep in mind that the word “love” encompasses more than just romantic love; it also encompasses the love felt in friendships and other close relationships.
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