Love

Man, the sicker I get of this subject the more it comes up. I have reached a point in life where some kind of definition of my beliefs regarding it is necessary at least for the benefit of my own clarity of mind. If it benefits anyone else that’s terrific. Feel free to skip this if you’re as jaded as I sometimes wish I still was.
What is it?
Love is an active force. Love is the most powerful energy. It is steadfast but also dynamic. The love of a mother for her child gives her the power to accomplish acts she could not perform for her own sake. Love between two people can motivate changes in heart and mind. Love of humanity creates justice and compassionate activism. Love of art inspires great works. Love of life inspires exploration and discovery. Love of self inspires love of all else, and drives one to change ones world for the better. Love does not stand still.
It is not a selfish need to possess another, but a desire to contribute to their wellbeing. It does not need to be returned. It only takes one to love.
What is it for?
We are animals, descended from animals, and not as far from our savage origins as most of us would like to believe. In the opening stages of evolution we have basic ground level survival issues. We need be only concerned with ourselves. Feeding and sheltering ourselves no matter the cost. This is the root chakra.
For those unfamiliar with the term, a chakra is a center of energy flow that generates a specific type and vibration of energy. Think of them as the organs of the etheric body.
The next stage demands that we seek contact with another for the purposes of procreation. This is a survival drive on a larger scale, ensuring continuity of the species. This is the sacral chakra.
The third stage is where we begin to really notice the larger world and our need to interact successfully within it, and to reshape it for ourselves. This is survival at a more refined level, where we begin to concern ourselves about quality of life. From the solar plexus chakra stems the drive to create and control. It is still self-centered.
The fourth chakra is the one we are most concerned with here. At the level of the heart is the birth of compassion, true concern for another living being, empathy, and love. Having realized that long term cultural success depends on more than everyone keeping warm and dry and in line, we begin to reach out to each other, to merge our energies and plans, and see past our own immediate concerns. The purpose of love is to allow us to evolve. It is not just to give us warm fuzzy feelings or reinforce the ego. It is the realization that we are part of something larger, it is the recognition of the beauty of ourselves in the context of the larger world and the ability to see this beauty in another, and to treasure it. It motivates us to nurture the growth of another and our own thereby, and the more we love the more we come to see it as essential to our being.
Does love entail commitment?
Yes. I believe it entails a greater commitment to life itself, when one opens to love. It is by its very nature a commitment. It has been my experience that once I come to love something I can’t stop. I may grow emotionally indifferent, but the emotional aspect of love is really the shallowest part. It is a deep spiritual recognition, one soul to another, that is irreversible. Ever after, that person will matter to me. When they need something I can help them with, I will do it. Always. This does not mean that I will be constantly in their life. The interest I feel that motivates me to seek a specific persons company continually is not love, but enhances the experience of love greatly. Others I love but have little wish to be near for long periods. This love still commits me to their well being. It is not a thing I force myself to do out of some lofty sense of honor, but a thing I feel necessary and right.
This is something that I feel for specific individuals. I have a great love for the entire universe. I have a true affection for the way things spin around each other, the way life pops out of the ground, the way water falls out of the sky. I have room in my heart for the entire thing, even the ugly parts, the scary parts, the evil parts, because it all goes together to form such a beautiful and precious gift that anyone would be an ungrateful fool not to love it.
I truly feel that way, and so unconditional love for all humanity is not such a great big leap for me, conceptually. That being said, I wish that about 90% of people would drop dead and leave me alone with the rest. The general is pretty general for me and the specific is very specific. Its kind of a paradox, but I love paradox too!
Unconditional love is next door to indifference, since it refuses to take individual virtues or shortcomings into account, but sweeps them all up in one big hug. I think we need to feel our individuality is worth something. Its very nice and comforting to know that no matter what there is a base line unconditional love flowing to us, but the idea that our individual actions, qualities, thoughts and feelings matter to someone else is what makes it worth battling the overwhelming temptation to conform, and maintain that individuality. There are those for whom self love is enough, but not many. Love is interactive, whether the general or specific kind. It is capable of performing miracles, and it is the act of giving it that truly heals the heart and enriches life. Recieving it is lovely too of course, but if you can keep loving even when you are not being loved you have learned the secret that keeps God from kicking everyones ass. Really unconditional love. Specific to the individual, but unwavering in the face of change.
There are three writings on love that i think kind of say it all between them. The section on love in Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, and sonnet 116 by Shakespeare. Go look them up on google right now, I am not quoting them. Gibran speaks of surrendering to love, accepting the hurt and sorrow that is a natural part of opening to deep feeling and becoming vulnerable. The Bible defines clearly what it is and is not. Shakespeare says uncompromisingly that if it is not constant and steadfast, it is not love. Our great writers agree that love is a thing which demands a response from the individual feeling it, calling for an elevation of character above personal interests. It sheds light on the darkest aspects of life and gives us the courage to grow beyond them. Not for the sake of the love that we will recieve if we make the necessary changes, but in order to more fully experience the love that is within us. As I said in the beginning of this, it only takes one to love. It is it's own reward. If it is not, it is not love.