What is love?

On this day celebrated and commercialized around the world, Valentine’s Day, I want to ask this question; what is love? So many people use this word to describe all kinds of things. They say they love someone, love their cars, love their jobs, love their pets and love the world…so many things with the same word. People also say things like they have “fallen” in love, discovered a new love of their life etc etc. What does this word love mean? Just looking at some of the things people attach this word too tells me that what its means to one person can be a totally different meaning to someone else.

For example, I am not so sure I would trust someone if she says, she loves me and later on she would say she loves her car. Then I would question her meaning of the word love. If she uses the same word to describe how she feels about me and then later use the same word to describe her car, then I would really question her knowledge of the word love.

Is love not a selfish thing, something you want, something you desire or need? Is that word as used in this world then not a term used by people interested in service to themselves? Something they want and as long as the other person is to your liking, then you are in love with that person. If that person does something you do not like or make a mistake, then the word hate is very easily used. People seem to use both words very easily and both are potentially very meaningful and very damaging words; love and hate!

So on a day like this where people buy flowers, cards and chocolates to “show” their love for someone else, how real is that gesture? Here we attach a physical item to show our love for someone. Most people are now doing it out of convention and that they “have” to do it, it is expected to do this when you are engaged, married, attached to someone… Am I the only person that find reading those cards with all those romantic words an empty gesture to give to the person you care about?

But here I am off to the shops to buy exactly that, an empty gesture, just because my wife is sold on the idea that if I don’t get her something, then our marriage is in trouble. They do create great marketing concepts don’t they? Here I will do something I don’t want to, to satisfy my wife’s attachment of love to a physical object. I don’t think this is the meaning of love…but let me go and buy it for her anyway…I hope she doesn’t read this article!