LOVE

From Webster's:

1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.

2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance

3. An intense emotional attachment, as for a pet or treasured object.

Seems so black and white, doesn't it? But I think really there should be footnote after footnote about exceptions and instances and variations of how love originates or evolves.

Or wait. Maybe it IS just as simple as those definitions make it seem. I mean, we don't have to slap a label on people just to understand how they could love each other. And what right do we have to say that the way some people love is wrong? (And to this, my exception is where someone is getting hurt by that "love", whether emotionally or physically)

As a former member of the LDS faith, I remember hearing the principle, nay commandment, to "Love one another". "Love thy neighbor" is another variation. There are songs and admonitions and lessons to drive these principles home. Do they work? Can you force yourself to learn that? Or is it something that is innate within us?

It's like our proprioception. We don't need to think about how we can maneuver the living room without kicking the table. We just do it. So with love, we don't think about who, where, or why we love, we just do it. Does that make any sense?