friendship & family
agape: selfless love
agape, the kind of love we think of when we imagine god and his/her love for us. it means unconditional love. i. believe we have all the capacity to feel and experience this kind of love. through devotion and practice we can attain a level of love that is totally selfless and dedicated to service. kind of like jesus or ghandi or mother theresa.
however i believe we can still tap into this love by contemplating the beauty that is around us and that is found in nature. miracles are all around us and inside of us.
can you feel it?
PHILIA: AFFECTIONATE LOVE
This type, in particular, is often referred to as “platonic” love – love without sexual acts.
THIS IS THE TYPE OF AFFECTIONATE LOVE YOU FEEL WITH YOUR FRIENDS.
i feel that as a society we need more of this kind of love. it's just so nice to hang out with a friend and simply watch a movie together, brush their hair, or just do nice things together with involving sex.
storge
This type of love looks and feels a lot like philia – affectionate love felt between friends. However, this love is more like a parent-child love.
Just like philia, there is not physical or sexual attraction. But there is a strong bond, kinship, and familiarity between people.
philautia: self-love
a lot of people might misunderstand self-love as being narcissist or selfish but that's not what the greeks meant with philautia.
self-love is a lot like self-care. in the sense that how you can care for others and have affection for them, you can have that same kind of love for yourself.
in fact, how can we love others if we don't have a minimum of love for ourselves?
SIGNIFICANT OTHER
PRAGMA: ENDURING LOVE
this type of love is very special. it is the kind of love found in long-term relationships. like grandparents who are still together after many many years and they still like to hold hands. this type of relationship require little effort on both parts as the relationship has been established since a long time.
unfortunately this kind of relationship is more rare to find these days in our society but it does not mean that it's not possible :)
eros: romantic love
Eros is named after the Greek god of love and fertility. Therefore, it is usually associated with romantic, passionate, and physical love. It is an expression of sexual passion and desire.
The Greeks were actually quite fearful of this love, strangely enough. they thought that desire was so powerful and instinctual that they were afraid of the loss of control.
nonetheless, is still the kind of love that is associated with sexuality and passion. Even in modern days, some people believe that this kind of love “burns hot and bright"
ludus: playful love
Ludus is known as the “playful love.” However, a better way to describe it is the feeling of infatuation in the early stages of romance. If you’ve been in love before, you know what I’m talking about.
the butterflies in your stomach, the giddiness you feel when you see your love walk through the door, and the feeling of never wanting to be without them.
Studies show that when people are experiencing this type of love, their brain is acting much like it does if it was on cocaine. In other words, your brain is lit up and active just like someone who is literally high on a drugs. It makes you feel alive and excited about life.
