When you love someone, it can feel like walking on air. You can easily overlook their flaws, and everything about them seems sweet—like strawberry cotton candy. But when a person you love hurts you, it can seem like wallowing in a muddy pit of self-pity. That’s because love, as the saying goes, is a complicated emotion.
Romantic love may seem to be the most important type of love, but it’s not the only kind. There’s also familial love, friendship, and even love for a pet. Each of these forms of love requires a different type of action. To write about them, you’ll need to explore your characters in a deep and meaningful way—to really get under their skin.
You might choose to focus on one character or two in your essay, but that’s not the only option. In fact, it’s more effective to write about a group of characters—each with their own individual relationships and issues—and then examine how they all interconnect with each other. This is a more realistic and complex approach to the topic of love, and it can bring your readers into the story and keep them engaged.
For many people, the word “love” brings to mind a specific set of feelings, such as excitement, attraction, affection and trust. These feelings are caused by the interaction of hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain, which create a bond and sense of security. But these chemicals aren’t all there is to love, and they don’t make love last. A more lasting type of love is built from times of positive experiences, closeness and familiarity. It’s a commitment to honor and respect each other, and to help and care for each other.
There are many different definitions of love, but most agree that it’s a feeling of compassion, attachment and loyalty for another person. It can be based on religion, culture or personal experience, and it involves both emotional and practical actions. Love is a complicated and powerful emotion that can motivate us to do great things.
The concept of love changed during the Enlightenment, as ideas of rationality and individualism took hold. Philosophers and writers from that time saw love as a tool for bettering society and the individual, and it’s this perspective on love that many modern people still take for granted.
In Hindu philosophy, love is described as kama (emotional attraction), prema or karuna (compassion and mercy) and bhakti (devotion to the divine). The Bhagavad Purana and works by Tulsidas describe nine forms of bhakti. In Christianity, Thomas Aquinas defines Christian love as the “willing good for another.” This is an active, practical form of love that’s rooted in faith and prayer. It can also be a motivating force for social activism and volunteerism. It’s a form of love that’s driven by the desire to see others succeed and do well in life. It can be a powerful force for change.