Love is a powerful and complex human emotion. It inspires songs, poems and novels that have entertained readers for centuries. It’s also a topic of study in science and psychology. Scientific research over the past 50 years has investigated how much of love is a biological phenomenon and how much is influenced by culture and the beliefs people have about what it means to love someone.
Unlike liking, which is an emotion in its own right, love involves the desire for intimacy and physical contact. The feeling of love can be triggered by hormones such as oxytocin and neurotrophins, and by pheromones released in the body. Researchers have found that the brain is activated in different ways when we’re ‘in love’ than when we’re simply liking someone.
The term ‘love’ is often used to describe romantic or sexual attraction, but there are many types of love. COSRT-accredited psychosexual and relationship therapist Cate Mackenzie defines love as a feeling of attachment, affection, devotion and caring. She adds that it can also be a commitment to the well-being of another. This kind of love includes early morning doctor’s appointments and cleaning up bodily fluids, as well as dealing with a person’s insecurities, fears and ideas.
In a family love is shown by parents flourishing love on their children, and children showing respect and gratitude to them. It’s this selfless love that keeps a husband and wife together in marriage. It’s what keeps a person committed to their parents even when they become elderly and unable to care for themselves.
It’s a love that makes a parent willing to go to any length to protect their child. It’s a love that allows a friend to remain committed to someone they know has destructive patterns of behaviour, even though it can be difficult for others to understand their choice. And it’s a love that inspires a Christian to love their enemies, as described by St Thomas Aquinas.
When writing an essay about love, it’s important to explore all the different emotions that come with it. Writers should think about how to best convey the hope, fear, pain, disappointment, betrayal and jealousy that can be part of a love story. They should also think about what obstacles their characters might need to overcome to find happiness. These might include a terminal illness, the inability to have children, jealous outsiders or psychological problems. Lastly, writers should consider reading essays by other authors who have written about this topic to get a sense of what a good essay about love looks like. They can learn from the way those authors have explored their own ideas and reflections about love to create their own persuasive essays that engage, inform and entertain their audience.