What’s Love Got to do With It?

6Mar/1014

What’s Love Got to do With It?

I've been thinking a lot about love lately. As I've thought and read about this topic over the past couple of months, I have begun to realize how much our culture plays a huge role in defining what love is. It's downright scary when you think about it. Our culture throws not just the word love around, but the meaning too, so flippantly and so often that I believe it causes confusion. Various TV shows, songs, movies, etc do much to water down the true meaning of love, leaving us scratching our heads in disappointment and frustration. I mean, why can't my husband be just like the guy from The Notebook? Is that too much to ask? Gees.

I just Googled how many songs have the word love in them. I got 10, 500,000 as the answer. Incredible. Love Shack, Love Me Do, Endless Love, Your Love Don’t Take a Backseat to Nothin, All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You, are just a few of the examples that come to mind. But what does it all mean? Love can be sex, love can be forever or just one night, love is first, love is last. There's love of self, money, strippers, jewelry, shoes, and cars. I mean nothing is off the table. And if you watch shows like The Bachelor or Rock of Love (with Brett Michaels btw), you know what I mean.

But even beyond the irreverent way our culture tosses love around, I’m just as guilty of it too. For example, just the other night as J and I were driving to a movie, I was discussing this very thing with him, and complaining about it. Not two minutes after, I asked him for some chapstick. He pulled it out and immediately I said, “I LOVE this kind.” AAAAHHHH! And I do it all the time. I love this song, or I love reading that blog. I love the Yankees. I love Tag-Along Girl Scout cookies. But do I really? Love? Those? Things? Just call me Brick. Seriously.

I don't know. I guess I'm at a point in my life where I'm tired of assigning love to things that really have no value. And I'm sick and tired of allowing culture to define what love is. When I say the words "I love you" I want to mean it with all my heart. I think the Greeks had it right, or at least better than we do. Four different words for love that express four different meanings is better than one word to express them all. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of saying I Love my husband and I love chapstick in the same breath. I'm going to try and stop. Starting....now.

Johanna

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Comments (14) Trackbacks (1) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

Sara (Pal2Pal)
March 6th, 2010 - 14:00

I tend to do it too. I love a certain song, TV show, some computers and hate others. If you add in the number of bloggers I’ve said I love over the years, you would find lots of people who would either have egos the size of the universe or be totally repulsed at the news. I can tell you, however, that when you have no one in your life to love, it sucks.

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Falahime
March 6th, 2010 - 14:45

Lamp. I love lamp. *shrugs*

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Rick Sheridan
March 6th, 2010 - 14:49

You love the Yankees?

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- Johanna
  March 6th, 2010 - 15:01
  
  J says it’s one of my biggest flaws. But yes, unabashedly. :)
  
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SarahW
March 6th, 2010 - 15:34

Someone’s got to love chapstick I guess.

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General Tso's Chicken
March 6th, 2010 - 15:39

Thor’s mom love me long time.

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Kdaunt
March 6th, 2010 - 17:29

I have a story. My first daughter was learning to speak, and one morning she came down to breakfast. I was cooking at the counter and she climbed up on a chair we’d pulled up and said, “I love you, Daddy!” I was so moved. Then she looked at one of our small appliances and asked me, “What’s this?” “It’s a crock pot”, I said. She put her arms around it and told it, with great conviction, “I do so love you, crock pot!” That’s when I realized where I fell in the hierarchy around our house.

But I do agree with you. We need some words that we can reserve for the real deep convicted love we have for our spouses and family. It’s just not the same we might feel towards favorite movie stars or chapstick.

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kc
March 6th, 2010 - 20:45

A few years back, at one of those moments in life that changes the rest of your life, I decided I was going to stop saying “I hate” whatever it was I didn’t like. Because I don’t hate liver, or fish, or Paris Hilton. And it’s become much more likely for me to use “love” when I mean “love for person” and the lesser terms for inanimate objects and foods.

Words mean things…and I like to use ‘em! Thanks for this post, it’s my favorite reading of the day.

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dicentra
March 6th, 2010 - 22:07

I love my crock pot, too. I just discovered how to make a very savory roast beast in it.

Please tell me what is better than that?

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David
March 7th, 2010 - 15:52

How do we even separate the 4 words in Greek? True love, passion, friendship, and affection still don’t seem to cover love for chapstick.

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Denna Miyoshi
March 7th, 2010 - 18:05

Thanks, Keep up the Good work :)

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www.mychicagocomputerrepair.com
March 11th, 2010 - 15:24

I am always looking into things on info that I don’t know about, even though it might be old news. It’s tough to search things that you do not know about, because what do you search for? ;) Your blog was the type of thing I love to read about regarding something new to me. Awsome read! Thanks.

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Gayle Zuhlke
November 8th, 2010 - 12:31

I’d come to concede with you here. Which is not something I typically do! I love reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to speak my mind!

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Sachiko Buehring
November 15th, 2010 - 03:24

Thank you terrific piece of work. Where else could advice came across your post speech to make next week, and this sort of.

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