Like vs Love
What is a more powerful emotion, Like or Love?
Which do you feel is more intense emotionally? Think of the person you love most in the world, you love them, but do you like them? Have you ever thought about the difference between like and love? Usually we consider, love, the stronger of the two. However, if you look at the way we talk about love, it seems like an accident: “falling in love”, “falling out of love”. Whereas, when we speak of like: “I like her/him/them”, this seems like a decision-based answer. Now then, do the emotional definitions of Like and Love change, depending on if the person, experiencing the emotion, believes in a higher power? For example, an atheist analytical mind, might argue that choosing to like someone, then choosing to love them is the most powerful emotional decision one can make. However, someone of faith might argue that them falling in love “by accident” is actually the intervention of a higher power. So then, them falling in love “by accident” then choosing to like the person is the most powerful emotional decision they can make. I believe that we choose to like and we love naturally. Like should come first, first you like and then it turns into love. We love our family but if they weren’t family would you still love them? Think about this, if the people you love were complete strangers, would you still want to spend time with them? Would you still like them? People always refer to the saying “blood is thicker than water” when they explain why you HAVE to love your family. But at first, that saying did not refer to family at all, the blood, was the blood shed between soldiers in war and, the water, was the water in the womb. The saying used to refer to the fact that family isn’t the stronger bond. Does this change things for you? Sometimes you hear people say “love just isn’t enough”, so if it doesn’t work out, could that mean that there wasn’t enough like involved?
Like is a friend, love is family. Most of us like our friends and most of us love our families, all of us are told it’s normal to love our families and so we follow suit and love them. When your mom says “I love you”, you most likely answer “love you too”, do you, love her? If you do love her, do you like her? Do you like the people you love? We fall into love but choose to like? Is love an accident? Is like a decision? Is there a difference? Are they just words?