Love: as a subtle emotion

[Nosferatu Man]

The weather is warming up, the sweat glands are beginning to open, and Love is a hot topic on the mind.

I awoke from a dream involving myself and a girl from high school. She was my best friend and, thinking back, I reckon I Loved her - and most probably, continue to do so. Not the lustful, knee-trembling, stomach-turning infatuation, so commonly mistaken as Love by various people: real Love, as I perceive it to be. In this dream, I witnessed a scenario that encapsulated my Love for her, and provided a good metaphor for the idea that Love is a sutble emotion. Here is the scenario:

We were walking along, near the edge of a cliff and suddenly she slipped off and fell. I just sort of lay down quickly and put my hand down to reach her, and I just held her hand really gently and got her back up to safety.

That isn't the entire dream. I have editted out the extraneous scenes and dialogue that add nothing to this metaphor we're concentrating on. To explain this (apparent) metaphor, I'll highlight why it isn't a metaphor for Lust/Infatuation.

If I had been frantically struggling to reach her and grab hold of her to drag her up, that would have been a metaphor for Lust or Infatuation. As I was holding her really gently - as if I almost didn't mind if she fell - that symbolized my Love for her. It's certainly not a perfect metaphor because in relationships (if you want to look at the scenario literally) you're not necessarily falling away from each other, and there's no need to pull your partner back to safety, but if in times of crisis, it could be a pretty perfect metaphor.

An abrupt ending - hopefully a cohesively made point. Any suggestions?

[Eugen]

It's a bit too cliched, Nosferatu, to grab my fancy, and nothing unique to rise it above. For me, that is. Sorry.

[spatha]

I'm not quite sure what you're proposing to do with this metaphor, can you enlighten me a little?

[Nosferatu Man]

Don't apologies!

Not having read any texts on Love - or any other philosophies that I come up with - almost everything I think up will probably be unoriginal, and already written down by others. It was just a little observation I'd made, and was struck by how well the image fitted with my idea of Love being subtle.

Hehe, I'm not proposing to do anything else with that metaphor just yet, Spatha (that's a type of sword, isn't it?). I just thought I'd share it with the family.

As you guys have landed here, you must be interested and have thought about Love. What do you make of it? Have you ever thought it's a subtle emotion? Also, what do you think of it on the grand scheme of things, i.e. Are we, in the Universe, all connected by Love? I reckon we all (including everything in the Universe) have a Soul/Spirit, and we have a Spiritual Love for the Universe, and everything within, that we don't necessarily think about consciously.

[spatha]

I don't want to sound clinical about this, but I think love is basically an evolutionary trait that stops a communal species from being too self destructive, and ensures its cohesiveness. Even animals like dogs or chimps can develop bonds of feeling that help them to nurture and protect each other, and in a species like ours, those bonds are more complex. We can be aware of them, name them, write poetry about them, make films about them etc.

But those bonds are not there for our own feeling of fulfilment, we have evolved with them since our austrolopithicene days as a survival mechanism for the species. Sorry if that doesn't leave room for spirits/souls, but thats beyond my scope to comment on.

Does that sound cold? On a personal level, I love Love as much as the next person, and all the mystique and metaphysical creativity that it fuels.

Oh, and you're right, the Spatha was a long sword used by Roman cavalrymen.

[Nosferatu Man]

That's pretty interesting, Spatha. I hadn't thought about it like that before. I'll have to think about it properly before I tell you I agree or disagree. I haven't heared/seen the word 'austrolopithicene' before, though. I'm going to have to look that one up. I'm just a little perturbed that more people aren't interested in the concept of Love. What's up with folk?

[cFaniak]

I don't speak english good enough to describe what is love for me.
Extraordinary feeling, which makes you do things, that you would never do. All you want to do with your beloved is to sit next to her, saying nothing and drowning in her eyes. You feel comfortable and you want to tell her all your secrets. You can't breath without her. Your heart beats only when she's close to you. Etc. Etc.

[Genie]

Originally Posted by cFaniak

All you want to do with your beloved is to sit next to her, saying nothing and drowning in her eyes. You feel comfortable and you want to tell her all your secrets. You can't breath without her. Your heart beats only when she's close to you. Etc. Etc.

Ahhhhhh! That's really lovely. Summed it up for me.
Think I just fell in love!

P.S Your English is excellent!

[Nosferatu Man]

Yeah, that was pretty moving. A bit too moving for my liking, though - I think my chances with Genie have gone for good now. Noooooooooo. :(

[Genie]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu Man

I think my chances with Genie have gone for good now. Noooooooooo. :(

Not at all! LOL

By the way, may I just say that I think your dream signifies that you secretly long to be a hero. i.e you rescuing your damsel in distress!

[cFaniak]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu Man

A bit too moving for my liking

Isn't love a bit too moving for You?

Originally Posted by Genie

That's really lovely

Thanks

[Porthos]

@ cFaniak - I agree with Genie; that's very moving & your English was perfect

To me, love is amazing in as much that it has so many facets to be explored.

Here are two conclusions that I've come to at this point:

At it's best, you can feel like you are on top of the world, floating along because you know that there's someone special thinking about you as you are thinking about them & that you can share anything you want (not recommended if you are cheating )

At it's worst, love can mean that you are at someone elses mercy. You rely on them for your happiness & that power is often abused and you're left feeling like your heart has been ripped out and that it's being trampled on in front of you.

[Nosferatu Man]

Hehe, you're probably right, my darling (that's Genie).

Yeah, it's probably the most moving thing in the Universe, isn't it, cFaniak?

That's what I like about Love, Porthos - the many facets it has. You can look at it on the small scale as a connection between the two people concerned (or a person and art, e.g. my love for Slint's music), and then on the grand scale, connecting everything in the Universe. Cool.