Fire! Or is it only a hot-water bottle?

A mere four days after my post "Expectations" here I am again, musing away, thanks to a (you guessed it) New Year's resolution to blog at least once a fortnight.

Today my musing is on the nature of love. What is it? How do you recognise it? Having recently left a long-term relationship with a wonderful person, this is something that I've been struggling with for a while. As a concept, love seems to be fluid.

The ancient Greeks had five different words for love - philia, eros, agape, storge, and xenia - so it's not just me who thinks that there are many different ways of loving people, and that it can be tricky distinguishing between them. Figuring out that you love someone (in any way) is, for me at least, a difficult business. This pretty much sums up what I think romantic love should be:

"What I want is a feeling so strong that it takes over all my senses - no matter what the consequences are. A love with a grip so tight it grabs hold of every part of me, even my soul." - Fake by Matoh Sanami

This may sound a bit intense for some people, but surely love is supposed to be intense? The only problem with this is, everything else can seem a little mediocre. Perhaps I over-think things sometimes, but if there's no fire, is it really love? Comfort, companionship, and support are wonderful things, but they're also things that are found in a good friend. Surely in a romantic relationship, there should be something more?

It may prove an impossible quest, but - for now at least - I'm going to pursue the fire.