Thread: What is love?

Ok, so I overthink most things anyway.
But people are always saying, I love this or that. (or worse, that they hate - a very strong term for what is usually trivial) What do you think defines love?

Are there are different types of love, Eros being one? Or is it a matter of application so to speak? I might differentiate between the love I feel for my children and family and the love I have for the LOML (light of my life -for those of you who haven't been around long enough to have dealt with discussions of my terminology before) but are they really different?

What differentiates love from desire or obssession (which I think many confuse for love)?

Certainly there can be sexual passion accompanying love but is that love it self?

I see love, separate from desire or passion, to be joyful, to want good for the other, to be a sharing and care without need for possession. At a deep level I think, the basics are the same regardless of the relationship. I love my children deeply, I want them to be always unharmed (rather than "safe"), joyful, learning and growing. I do not wish to hold them static. I know there will always be a connection between us but I do not wish to simply secure them to my side but to be secure in seeing them go out into the world and thrive.

But what of the man in my life? Would I want anything different for him, with him? Yes and no. I want us to be partners in discovery. Sharing and growing side by side. I think Gibran in, The Prophet, expressed several definitions of love very well. How do you define and differentiate love or types of love?