That feeling called Love

Do you know what that one definition of love is? Even the Oxford dictionary doesn’t have just one meaning of love. Phew! So how must I figure out what love is? No, Google doesn’t help either!!!

I always found love confusing and in the ardour to understand what love is, I decided to speak to few folks around me and perhaps should share what it means to them. Here it goes!

·         Romantic euphoria

·         Self-destruction

·         Lust

·         Commitment

·         Combination of butterflies & comfort zone

·         Physical & emotional closeness

·         Complete understanding

·         Growing old with your partner

After understanding the psyche of people in their mid-20’s, I realised that everyone defined love basis the relationships they have had and the experiences they have gone through while dating someone. However, did you ever wonder that love could be beyond the romantic context?

Interestingly, the first thought about love was associated with being romantically involved with their partner. I wonder why that happens but it’s fascinating to see how we end up thinking alike at a certain age about an expression and feeling as pure as love.

While as a kid, one might have a completely different perspective on love; it’s certain that as we age, it dawns on us that love is abstract and it is extant in small actions we perform every day.

Love beyond the romantic context

Sitting with your friend on the swing and discussing life, cuddling with your pet, hugging your mom before going off to sleep, sharing your deepest secrets with someone, playing with your kid or chasing your passion are all various forms of expressing and experiencing love.

…and some of my friends quoted love very beautifully

“Love is allowing yourself - and those you care about - room to grow and soar. It is finding your joy, and living it, every day. It is taking care of yourself, because only then can you take care of those you love. Love is being the best "you" you can be... every day.”

– Shonali Burke

“When I listen to the radio or see people describe "love" in the movies, it reminds me of the blissful

superficiality of the beginning of a relationship. I don't experience that brand of love anymore. My wife and I have been together for ten years and have two kids, and the exhilaration and newness that we once experienced has been replaced by familiarity and extraordinary responsibility. For love to exist and endure, the people closest to you find a way to empathize with, forgive and embrace your imperfection constantly. As unromantic as some aspects of an enduring love are, it feels far more gratifying for me to be loved in this way. That said, I have the most exceptional wife in the world so my worldview could be completely skewed by her brilliance. ;)” – Jim Dougherty 

“Someone once told me that love is a verb instead of a noun. That has always stuck with me. You have to actively love. You don't get to buy it from the store or keep it in the closet to use at your convenience.” – Daniel Cohen

"Love is putting yourself in your partner’s shoes and understanding what bond most comforts them, inversely accepting the person they are, because if you try to change them as per your likes then you'd be loving yourself and not them" – Anish Quenim

All of these different kinds of love and relationships have similar meaning but have a little something different to be unique.

According to many philosophers, the only aim of life is to be happy. And there is only one happiness in life; to love and be loved. But no one defines who should be the object of our affection. As long as there is love in our lives, there is fulfilment.

Love is essentially an abstract concept, much easier to experience than to explain. What do you think? 

Match Makers go Social by Breaking Stereotypes

[Ed: The tradition of arranged - as opposed to "love" - marriages has been practiced in India for

centuries, and is still a thriving and commonly accepted practice on the sub-continent. A relatively recent proliferation of matchmaking sites is bringing the tradition in step with the tech age.]

Most of you reading this post have, or will go through, a phase in life where it seems the only goal of your friends, family and strangers is to get you married!

Image: Weddingsforaliving.com via Google, CC 4.0

That’s when you get anti-social, run away or hide from family get-togethers, parties and weddings. People around you suggest uploading your profile to matchmaking sites, so as to find the best fit in a potential life partner. But little do they realize or understand that it’s not just about finding “a suitable boy” (or girl).

It’s about finding someone with whom you’re so compatible, you can imagine spending the rest of your life with them.

Recently I came across TrulyMadly.com, a modern day matchmaking service that claims to effectively use science and psychology to find suitable matches. The website offers a new way to connect with like-minded individuals who are looking for serious relationships.

At first, I wondered how different it was from other matchmaking sites like Shaadi.com, Matrimonialsindia.com or Jeevansathi.com (which I personally have very little experience of). But my perception about such sites in general changed when I came across a unique and very promising campaign by TrulyMadly called #BreakingStereotypes.

It made me think that, perhaps, matchmaking sites aren’t such a bad way to meet your dream boy/girl after all.

What makes TrulyMadly stand out from the rest of these sites, is that it matches people’s profiles based on who they are and what they are looking for, instead of the traditional matches based on caste or location. The campaign was aimed at disproving stereotypes, thereby supporting compatibility and personal interactions among individuals.

#BreakingStereotypes

The campaign introduced 10 fresh stereotypes a week. Each stereotype was illustrated using photographs, articles and tweets, which also frequently used humor. And what they did was to refute the cliched opinions we form of people, based on superficial elements such as the colors they wear, and the work that they do.

Check out a few #BreakingStereotypes which created quite the buzz:

 

  

#BreakingStereotypes ran for five weeks. Over this time, 53 different stereotypes were posted about, which reached over 1.1 million people through social media. According to reliable sources, 90,000 people engaged with the brand on Facebook and over 9,000 interactions were recorded on Twitter by 375+ participants. And, most interestingly, a 330% jump in unique users on TrulyMadly was observed over a span of a month.

It’s fascinating to see how social media is taking over every aspect of our lives.

There was a time in India when people didn’t believe in such sites, and the only way to find the right fit in a bride or groom was through suggestions from extended families and friends. And what TrulyMadly has done is to get a step ahead of the competition, as people have become more tech-savvy and started using matchmaking sites, taking advantage of the way we live our lives in and through social media.

The #BreakingStereotypes campaign gained a lot of attention in the virtual world. What do you think it will take for it to gain traction offline in what is still a fairly traditional society? 

Images: Breaking Stereotypes via TrulyMadly, CC 4.0