For my Ethics course in college, my professor assigned me a few questions to answer before Valentine’s Day. The questions were: What is love? What is the nature of love? How do you know when you are in love? The following is my response:

I think love, at least romantic love, is underlined by reciprocation and compatibility. It’s a give and take. There’s a mutual understanding that both parties are human and desire many things including companionship, but it also opens one’s eyes to seeing that no one’s perfect. It’s the imperfections that we relate to and can empathize with. “Through sickness and health until death do you part…” It’s the highs and lows that any human relationship worth enduring and working on with the exception that many more emotional, physical, and mental boundaries are surpassed through time. Romantic love is the long-lasting effect after infatuation ends. It’s when the other person isn’t merely a flawless being you’re attracted to, but a vulnerable, flawed person you can share all your pain and joy with. The nature of love seems to be… natural. It happens automatically and then slowly as time goes by. The infatuation is just a way to be drawn in. When that ends and the mask comes off, it’s both parties’ choice to decide whether or not the flaws revealed are worth accepting. I know I’m in love with someone when I put their needs ahead of my own, when I think about them the moment I wake up all the way until the last thought of the day before slumber takes over me, when I am considerate of their feelings before I do or say anything whether they are around or not, when trust and respect becomes effortless to give and receive, when patience is easy to maintain whereas before it wasn’t, and when physical attraction is a pleasant preliminary to what lies within their very being.

You think I did a good job answering those questions? Are the questions assigned to me objective or subjective? Please comment your opinions below. Thank you for reading, my lovely fallen angels! Over and out.