1.Love is any of a number of emotions related to a sense of strong affection and attachment.The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging fromgeneric pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction("I love my husband").States This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to otheremotional aspects.

2. As an abstract concept, love usually refers to a deep, ineffable feeling of tenderly caring for another person.Even this limited conception of love, however, encompasses a wealth ofdifferent feelings, from the passionatedesire and intimacy of romantic love to the nonsexual emotional closeness of familial and platonic love 3. to the profound oneness ordevotion of religious love Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to itscentral psychological importance,is one of the most commonthemes in the creative arts. 4. When discussed in the abstract, love usually refers to interpersonallove, an experience felt by a personfor another person.Love often involves caring for oridentifying with a person or thing, including oneself (cf. narcissism). 5. Love is sometimes referred to as being the "international language",overriding cultural and linguisticdivisions. IMPERSONAL LOVEA person can be said to love an object,principle, or goal if they value it greatlyand are deeply committed to it. 6. People can also "love" materialobjects, animals, or activities ifthey invest themselves in bondingor otherwise identifying with those things. If sexual passion is also involved, this condition is called paraphilia 7. Interpersonal loveInterpersonal love refers to love between humanbeings. It is a more potent sentiment than a simpleliking for another. Unrequited love refers to thosefeelings of love that are not reciprocated.Interpersonal love is most closely associated withinterpersonal relationships. Such love might existbetween family members, friends, and couples.There are also a number of psychological disordersrelated to love, such as erotomania 8. Since the lust and attraction stages are both considered temporary, athird stage is needed to account forlong-term relationships.Attachment is the bonding that promotes relationships lasting for many years and even decades. 9. . Attachment is generally based on commitments such as marriage and children, or on mutual friendship based on things likeshared interests. It has been linkedto higher levels of the chemicalsoxytocin and vasopressin to a greater degree than short-term relationships have 10. Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and social phenomenon.Psychologist Robert Sternbergformulated a triangular theory oflove and argued that love has three different components: intimacy,commitment, and passion. 11. Intimacy is a form in which two people share confidences andvarious details of their personallives, and is usually shown in friendships and romantic love affairs 12. Commitment, on the other hand, isthe expectation that the relationship is permanent.The last and most common form oflove is sexual attraction and passion. Passionate love is shown in infatuation as well as romanticlove. 13. Archetypal lovers Romeo and Juliet portrayed by Frank Dicksee. Peckmaintains that love is a combination of the "concern for the spiritual growth of another,"and simple narcissism 14. Studies have shown that brainscans of those infatuated by love display a resemblance to thosewith a mental illness. Love creates activity in the same area of the brain where hunger, thirst, anddrug cravings create activity. Newlove, therefore, could possibly bemore physical than emotional. 15. Over time, this reaction to lovemellows, and different areas of thebrain are activated, primarily onesinvolving long-term commitments. Cultural viewsPersian Rumi, Hafez and Sadi are icons of the passion and love that the Persianculture and language present. ThePersian word for love is eshgh, deriving from the Arabic ishq. 16. In the Persian culture, everything is encompassed by love and all is for love,starting from loving friends and family, husbands and wives, and eventuallyreaching the divine love that is the ultimate goal in life.Chinese and other Sinic cultures "Ai," thetraditional Chinese character for love () consists of a heart (middle) inside of "accept," "feel," or "perceive," which shows a graceful emotion. It can also beinterpreted as a hand offering ones heart to another hand 17. (e.g. wo ai ni , or "I love you") The Chinese are also more likely to say "I love you" in English or other foreign languagesthan they would in their mothertongue.Japanese In Japanese Buddhism, ai() is passionate caring love, and afundamental desire. It can develop towards either selfishness or selflessness and enlightenment. Amae (), a Japanese word meaning "indulgent dependence," is part of the child-rearing culture of Japan. 18. Agape ( agp) means lovein modern-day Greek. The termsagapo means I love you in Greek. The word agapo is the verb I love. It generally refers to a "pure,"ideal^ type of love, rather than thephysical attraction suggested by eros 19. Philia ( phila), a dispassionate virtuous love, was a conceptdeveloped by Aristotle. It includesloyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue,equality, and familiarity Storge ( storg) is natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring. 20. Xenia ( xena), hospitality, wasan extremely important practice in Ancient Greece. It was an almost ritualized friendship formedbetween a host and his guest, whocould previously have been strangers. 21. Turkish (Shaman & Islamic InTurkish, the word "love" comes upwith several meanings. A person can love a god, a person, parents, or family. Ak is a feeling for tolove, or being "in love" (Ak), as itstill is in Turkish today. The Turks used this word just for their lovesin a romantic or sexual sense. 22. Influential Christian theologian C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The FourLoves. Benedict XVI wrote his firstencyclical on "God is loveIslam and Arab Ishq, or divine love,is the emphasis of Sufism. Sufis believethat love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe. God desires torecognize beauty, and as if one looks at a mirror to see oneself, God "looks"at itself within the dynamics of nature. 23. In Buddhism, Kma Karu andAdvea and mett are benevolent love.Hinduism In Hinduism, kma ispleasurable, sexual love, personified by the god Kamadeva. For many Hinduschools, it is the third end (artha)in life. 24. Tell the special people in your life thatyou appreciate them. Studies show that appreciation of others and of ourselves is strongly correlated withhealth and wellness. Tell those special people in your life that you care about them. Everyonelikes to be liked. 25. Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore,Maryland, evaluated 19 people who had been admitted to the hospitalwhile suffering chest pain orsymptoms related to heart failure after experiencing some Although theirsymptoms mimicked those of heartattack patients, researchers found that these broken heart patients had no evidence of heart damage or blockages to their arteries. emotional 26. The stress levels of those studied, however, were much higher than those who suffer an actual heart attack, which researchers concluded was the cause of theirheart-related symptoms. The goodnews for broken heart patients is that time really does mend abroken he 27. Lisa Berman of the Harvard School of Public Health Studies began looking at the socialfactors that influence heart health in 1975. Herfindings have since been confirmed withcountless studies that show that hearts beatstronger for people who:are socially activefeel loved and supported maintain close friendshipsenjoy happy marriagesfeel close to their parents care for pets draw strength and comfort from some form ofspirituality 28. It is impossible to exist without interacting with other people and its the quality and quantity of these interactions that play adominant role in our health. Based on alandmark Pennsylvania study, co-authorStewart Wolf, MD, suggests that emotionalhealth and a sense of community have agreater impact on heart disease thansmoking and a diet high in saturated (animal) fat combined. 29. . It takes energy to pursue and maintain these special connections. There areinevitable down days for all the up daysalong the relationships path. Because theyprovide the drive for growththe tool that allows us to know more about ourselves relationships are essential to our life. Ifliving life successfully involves constant growth, then we need to put energy intoour relationships or we risk allowing themto die on the vine. 30. Ultimately, a successful relationshipinvolves sharing emotions. How well we manage the ups and downs of ouremotions and those of the relationship dynamic is now understood to have the greatest impact on our well-being and, in particular, our heart health. 31. In our global society, the emotionalaspects of our relationships provide the unique tools that allow us to adapt, learn, and grow. One of these emotionalcomponents comes from helping our loved ones perceive stressful events from otherpoints of view. These efforts, which are motivated by our wish to be helpful, maybe challenging but serve as a powerful toolfor personal growth. 32. Write down a list of seven things thatyour special someone loves. Think about what they like to talkabout, what they think about, whatthey spend their money on, and whatthey spend their time doing. If this doesnt come easily askthiswill show you care enough to find out.Consider this a good exercise inperception skills.