"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."
-Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land.
I don't know what to say on this topic. I mean, love's love, right? You ask me, "Why do I love?" Shouldn't the question be, "Why shouldn't I love?"
Everyone is going to define love, and the act of loving another, differently. Some feel LOVE is synonymous with devotion, others with lust, and still others with some sort of simply indescribable feeling that is 1 part obligation, 1 part happiness, and one part belonging. I can't define love for you…if I do, you're going to stop reading right hear and now, convinced I'm wrong, certain that I have no idea what's going on in your heart and who the hell am I to lecture you about love when I can't even put your definition into words?
So I won't.
I'm happy to take Robert Heinlein's words, above, and apply them to my own life. There are many, many people out there that I love, according to that great science fiction writer. And when I stop and think about it, those are the exact people that I would want on a list of "People I Love". His definition makes sense to me: I cannot truly be happy unless those I love are feeling content and in good spirits…when they are down, or hurting, or simply just not satisfied with things, I will do ANYTHING in my power to make things better! It doesn't matter the cost, the sacrifice, the troubly my way to get there…I can't live happily ever after in a little prism of solitary happiness; everyone I love must be there too. It's not something I can control, it's just something I must live with.
So maybe there are some skeptics out there, thinking about what I'm saying, asking, "So, if there's so much sacrifice and unhappiness linked to another's sorrow, why even bother to love them in the first place? Why start the vicious cycle of only regaining true happiness when all those love are on the same plateau of bliss?" And for that, I guess I'm sort of at a loss for words. I don't think you can really choose who to love, it just sort of happens. And as for the "benefits" and "why" of loving others? Well, I'll just leave that up to R.A.H again, who seems to have had all the answers…
"The more you love, the more you can love — and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had time enough, he could love all of that majority who are decent and just."
-Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough For Love.
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