When you are in love, it can make you feel a variety of emotions. It can confuse you, it can give you a yearning that makes your heart beat faster. It can cause you to think of your partner’s needs before your own. It can even make you want to try new things that you wouldn’t normally care for. But what exactly is it about love that makes your heart go pitter-patter?
Psychologists, sociologists, and researchers have tried to figure out what exactly it is that makes you fall in love with someone. They’ve researched all the usual suspects: attraction, chemistry, likability, but they haven’t been able to come up with a definitive answer to the question of what it is that causes your heart to skip a beat when you see them.
Some people believe that love is a primary emotion, similar to hunger or anger. Others say that it is a combination of several different primary emotions, such as eros (romantic love), storge (love for family and kin), and agape (divine love). There are also those who argue that we can’t really define love because it is so personal and different for each person.
Whatever the definition of love is, it is one of the most powerful feelings in life. It can bring you up and make you fall down. It can be confusing, but it can also be beautiful. It’s difficult to describe, but it is a feeling that everyone has experienced at some point in their lives.
When you’re in love, your whole world changes. Even mundane tasks like going to the grocery store become more enjoyable. You may find yourself wanting to do more activities with your significant other or you might be tempted to try things that you wouldn’t normally do because of the excitement of loving them. This is a good thing, but it’s important to remember that you should never lose sight of your own interests in the process.
Love can also change the way you view other people. You might notice that you are more appreciative of their strengths and less judgmental about their flaws. You might find yourself being more supportive and encouraging of them as well. You might be more likely to help them out or even take on their problems as your own. Seeing their positive side makes you happy and gives you a sense of responsibility that you might not have had before you fell in love.
Brain scans of people in love have shown that the primary “reward” centers of the brain, including the caudate nucleus and ventral tegmental area, fire like crazy when they are looking at the face of the person they are in love with. This is the same area of the brain that lights up when you get a rush from cocaine.
Love can be hard to understand, but it is worth pursuing. It’s not something that can be forced, but it is a gift that every human being has the ability to experience. If you’re lucky enough to fall in love, cherish it and treat it with respect.