Characteristics Of Love

In ordinary terms, love is an intense feeling of affection towards another person, object, or anything for that matter. An average person typically refers to love as an attraction to another person so strong that one begins to develop an inability to feel a romantic passion for anyone else. However, in psychoanalytical terms there are multiple ways to describe the characteristics of love. In actuality, love is not a feeling. The only accompanying feelings that come with love is anxiety. Love demands love. Love is founded on faith and is extended by faith. Lacan claims that ‘love is giving something that you don’t have’. This is particularly because what an individual loves in the Other is what they lack, which they will then try to give back

Love can be viewed as a natural event that occurs freely and without limitations. In this sense, love is not regulated and is not a rigid ideal. Love is seen as natural in the situation of the love encounter mentioned above. Love is also natural when there is no one forcing you to love another individual. You love freely when there is no one telling you who you should date or who not to date, when no one is trying to force their beliefs on what love is towards you, and when you just let yourself be taken away by someone else’s company. There are many examples that can be used to clarify when love is not natural. I do not believe love is natural in an arranged marriage or in an instance in which your friend tries to hook you up with someone. You have not experienced the encounter and you are more or less being forced to meet someone (or marry) that you were not initially attracted to on your own. If someone else has to convince you to be with someone, they are doing the work for you. The beauty about love is that you should be free to choose who you love. You make your own decisions on the type of partner you would like, what type of person suits you; if an individual were to decide those factors for you, you miss out on coming to your own conclusions on a person and knowing for yourself if they are right for you. Love is also not natural if you listen to other people’s commentary. For example, let’s assume I met a cordial fellow, but my mother, who I care dearly for, tells me that I should find a man who has a higher paying job or a man who is less witty. If my mother’s opinion were to exceed in importance over my own opinion and if I were to please my mother by finding someone else, then the way I perceive love is no longer a natural process in which I am attracted to whoever I want to be. Love has now been transformed into me “loving” a person that only my mother approves of. In this scenario, I have allowed