From songs and poems to movies and novels, love has been an inspiring subject for artists throughout the ages. However, the concept of love can be a difficult one to define. Love evokes strong emotions that can vary from moment to moment, making it challenging to compare to other emotional states. In addition, love has spiritual and religious contexts that further complicate its definition.
When you’re in love, your brain experiences a mix of feelings such as excitement and attraction, affection, trust and comfort. During this time, your heart beats faster and you’re more likely to focus on the person you love. In addition, you may experience a boost in neurotransmitters including dopamine and norepinephrine, which activate brain regions associated with rewards and pleasure.
These chemical reactions are what make you feel that giddy rush of being in love. However, do these chemical changes — which occur because of the actions and thoughts you think about someone — actually describe what love is? In other words, does loving someone primarily mean that you want to make them happy and would do anything for them? If so, then this type of love is a feeling that largely happens to you and you’d have as much control over falling in it as you would have over accidentally falling down a hole.
The idea of love has been the inspiration for numerous essays through the centuries, including works by Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde. Moreover, modern essayists like Alain de Botton and bell hooks offer deep insights into the complex nature of love. These pieces can provide helpful models for writing your own essays on love and relationships.