LOVE MAKING THE WORLD GOES ROUND?

A

s I see it, love is really what makes the world goes round; probably more so than, as the old saying goes, money.

F

or the enquiring person, as soon as the term 'love' is mentions, the mind will automatically ask: 'what kind of love is being referred to?' And so it requires me to provide some clarification about the kinds of love there are and the one, if I am being specific, I have in mind.

N

ormally, it seems to me, when people speak of 'love', they are referring to the intense, extensive and consuming mutual feelings that two individuals can or have for each other. Feelings which gives them a sense of warmth, glow and radiate pleasure through their bodies when they think of, speak of, tough and hug each other. A sense of joy, of pride and an enduring feeling of wholesomeness about being 'loved' by their love and of 'loving' their love.

N

ow, of course it is the case that all love relationships will not be equally intense, enduring and mutually reciprocative as all the others. There can be situational factors involved, which place restraints on how people perceive, express and give effect to their 'love for each other.' These factors can be personal, psychological, physical, cultural, religious, and social.  Love between two individuals is, I would argue, more of a social phenomenon, which is being evolved into a personal one. 

T

his, it seems to me, has everything or nearly everything to do with the fact that the traditional or orthodox relationship between a man and a woman, was predicated on the need for people to have children and ensure the survival of the tribe and human specie. The concept of 'love', or 'being in love', is something which has evolved and is continuing to evolve along the way.  In this context, however, we can see 'love' continuing to function in its procreative role of ensuring the survival of the human specie.

I

n contemporary societies, love or being in love does not of itself, any longer suggest that the individuals are contemplating having children, although this is the most likely outcome in the majority of cases. This is even more so when we take into consideration lovers of the same gender.

T

he campaign for equal rights for LGBT people, I would argue, has resulted in fundamental shifts in societal perceptions, and an evolution in our thinking about people with what was hitherto seen non-orthodox sexual orientations, even though these orientations have been around probably from time immoral. 

T

he love between two individuals, as well as being noted for its capacity to form a strong bond between them, can also degenerate into becoming an explosive  and destructive force, when one of the party decides - usually because he or she has found an alternative 'love', or find the behaviour of the other intolerable - to bail out. In such cases bitterness and violence can consume the 'lovers', and sometimes result in one - usually the man - physically harming, or killing his partner, and/or himself, and sometimes even their children. Such men are usually seen as 'over-possessive' of their partner, and their resort to extreme violence can sometimes be attributes to their problematic personalities, and/or the devastating effect the 'loss' of their partner had on their psychological function and mental state. 

A

s I see it, the loss and betrayal which a person feels when his/her lover - whether or not they are married - leaves for another, can be just as all consuming and explosive as the feeling of pleasure and happiness which two lovers experience when they form a relationship. In probably most cases, it is not a matter of whether the process is painful, but about how intense is the pain and the resources of the suffering parties to assuage the pain. And so we have 'love' between two people being a source of  extreme pain and violence when it ends.

O

f course, there is also the 'love' which some people extends to and develop for a particular cause, whether it is a humanitarian, or a vocation such as a Priest might have for his flock, or a Nun or Monk, to some worthy cause, or a teacher, doctor, gardener, et al, might have for the love of his/her life.  Such a person can or might find the same kind of intense satisfaction and fulfilment in doing what he/she has committed their life to doing, as that which is experienced by the two lovers. The good causes to which people like these have committed their love, will have benefited and add to the common good.

Y

es, I would argue that love does make the world go round; even more so than money does.

OWOHROD