Love

[cosmicdancer]

What kinds of love have you experienced?

Me?

I'm not sure.

I'm pretty sure my dad loved me - but he also screwed me up.

My mum seemed to love only herself - but I think she loved us.

I love my kids so much - and I feel they love me.

I'm not sure my wives (I had more than one) ever loved me. I loved one of them... I think.

I'm not sure what love is to be honest.

[heart]

What kinds of love have you experienced?

The only kind there is in this world, the imperfect kind.

[runvardh]

Everyone is going to have a hayday with this... I've stopped trying to figure it out and leave it as a feeling

[targo]

Love is something I do deeply and passionately.

My mom loves me and I know she loves me more than I love her.... but I love her even when she annoys me.

My children also love me and I love them as well.... as much as they frusterate me I love them tremendously...

Now I have been through some things that tell me my husband loves me more than any words could ever portray..... and I love him as much as one possibley could.

But I have learned that there isn't a 'tap' on love. Learned that it's possible to love more than one person... because love is unique in that you can love people differently but still love them.

I don't love my children the way I love my mom or the way I love my husband but it's still love......

[Natrushka]

The people I love, I love deeply and without reservation... which just made me question how I feel about a few other people. People I think society would say I should also love similarly. Hmmmp.

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by heart

What kinds of love have you experienced?

The only kind there is in this world, the imperfect kind.

Yes, that's how it works, doesn't it?

My mother loved me sacrificially... but too much, so I felt smothered and subsumed.

My father loved me protectively... so he avoided me so as not to accidentally hurt me, and ended up devastating me just the same.

But I have had friends who love me, who listen to me without telling me what to do, who show interest in me when I fail to show interest in them as much as I should, who share things of importance with me even when I fail to ask. They even say they delight in me, and I don't understand that but just accept it.

And I have children who love me, and I still do not understand that at all either, because I just see the ways in which I let them down.... there is always something more I should have done. But I accept it.

And C loves me. We have problems because of our situation and because we are very different people, but I can see C loving me probably the best C could ever love anyone. Even when it's imperfect, it's still radiant love.

[cosmicdancer]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

My father loved me protectively... so he avoided me so as not to accidentally hurt me, and ended up devastating me just the same.

OMG I think I do that a bit to my kids.

[The_Liquid_Laser]

For me love has to involve some kind of sacrifice. The sacrifice can be either big or small, but it has to show that lover giver is sacrificing something for the sake of the love receiver.

[cafe]

Highly simplified for brevity:

My grandpa loved me like a pretty bauble. I loved him like a groupie loves a rock star.

My grandma loved me like a sacred trust. I loved my grandma like a rock in the storm.

My mother loved me like a life boat. I loved her like an astronomer loves a distant star.

My dad loves me like a pleasant surprise he doesn't quite know what to do with. I love my dad like a pleasant surprise I don't know quite what to do with.

My husband loves me like a combination of a best buddy, the mother he never had, and the best toy ever. I love him like a rock in the storm, like a fount of knowledge, and a favorite puppy.

My kids I love like a child with new toys at Christmas, like a mother bear with young cubs, and like a sacred trust. My kids love me like kids love their mom.

[Mac]

My parents love me intensely and unconditionally and I love them the same way, although, less powerfully. A parent's love for their child cannot be surpassed, in my opinion.

My brother loves me and I love him, although neither of us would admit it most of the time. We fight often and I harbor a partial resentment toward him, sometimes to the point of wishing he were never born. But I do love him.

I love my dog and my cat. I love them more than anyone can imagine. And I know they love me back. My dog is intelligent, loyal and protective. My cat is abnormally affectionate and perceptive.