Claudine by Maksim Mrvica

Love may be an ability, an action. Love transcends, fills the void. An essence of linkage between different individuals. It revives, binds.. elevates. Love can be the greatest weapon for mankind because through it, we are able to aid others to the highest degree. As the Greeks termed the three degrees of love – Agape, Philia, Eros.

I am deeply reminded of my Christian Fellowship Club days at school where we would speak of Agape love, and the love Paul spoke in 1st Corinthians 13:4 to 9 ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away’.

Is romance a symptom? I believe romance is a perk for those that learn how to love first. It’s a sugarcoat, an icing. Romance is what you gain from Eros, erotic love. Love with passionate heights. Love, alongside with romance. There are many stages to be reached within love and romance. Friendship, understanding, connectivity, attraction, passion, compassion etc. How do we find and conclude the definition of love? How are we, humans able to place our finger to it? Love changes, morphs into so many things, in so many people, in so many ways. I had a vision of sitting on a bench with a soul mate, and we were listening to a song through earphones together. He was tapping his fingers on my knee to the beat, and that was the best feeling in the world. That, by my definition, was romance. A simple act of human connectivity. It had no relation as to how much we loved each other or how good the sex is for that matter. Romance, in my opinion, differs for everyone. It many mean a little, or everything in each relationship. Love, however, is a commitment, a decision. Lust is merely an expression, passion adds colour of physical love and romance is the reaction. With recent age, love has gradually been defined as casual sex. I am deeply saddened that sex has turned into a tool; a scotch tape of relationship adhesives to many. Like scotch tape, its easy to many, functional, accessible and vital? But does it really hold things for a long duration? We should never define love with terms of physical passion. It goes above, way way above.

Happy note! I’ve just gotten my hands on Lewis’ book called The Four Loves where he examines the emotions of various types of love. Restricting myself from reading it till I finish Eureka by Poe first! Eureka is literally, killing me slowly and painfully. Think I’m going to skip to the last few pages of the book sshh.