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Erika Fernandez November 13, 2013 ENG 111/ Prof. Dambruch Definition Essay Fifty Shades of Love That fuzzy feeling in the pit of your tummy, the rosy cheeks you get when you see the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, or the or the ache in your heart you feel when you go through a bad break-up, are all caused from love, right? But, what is love really? While the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines love as a constant affection for a person, or an attraction that includes sexual desire, it fails to tell us when we know a feeling is actually love. Because we are so blinded by the fact that we just want it to be love, we start to misconstrue the true meaning behind it by means of overusing the word or the lack of action put towards it (because actions speak louder than words). Jim Al-Khalili, a theoretical physicist and science writer, believes love is chemistry. Biologically, love is a powerful neurological condition like hunger or thirst, only more permanent While lust is a temporary passionate sexual desire involving the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and estrogen, in true love, or attachment and bonding, the brain can release a whole set of chemicals: pheromones, dopamine, etc. (What is Love?) Although in terms of chemistry Khalili may be correct, it is also humanly possible to release these hormones when we are feeling other emotions, and therefore love is more than strictly chemistry. We cannot constrict the meaning of love into one category such as chemistry; otherwise I would be

releasing pheromones and dopamine every time I had ice cream because, well, I love ice cream! In other words, love is not just an emotion we feel towards a person through chemical reactions our body has, rather it can be a simple desire and like towards an object, place, or animal. In addition to scientists believing love is pure chemistry, singers, dancers, and artists believe it is it something more, more than chemical reactions but on a more personal level. To each his own one might say, for these artists all express their love differently whether it is through a dance, writing, painting, movies, or in song. We do not always have to say, I love you to show affection, whereas the band Extreme sang it best, Saying I love you is not the words I want to hear from you, its not that I want you not say, but it you only knew, how easy it would be to show me how you feel, more than words is all you have to do to make it real, then you wouldnt have to say that you love me, cause Id already know. (More than Words) As you see, saying I love you is not the only way to express, feel, or to show love. Not only can our bodies make chemicals reactions as to what we believe is love, but it is something we grasp in our heart and soul. Some may believe you cannot see love, but I beg to differ. Love is all around us and its is up to us to keep love going and stop us from losing the true value of what it means to be loved.

Work Cited "Love." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.

Khalili, Jim-AL. "What Is Love? Five Theories on the Greatest Emotion of All." The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013

Extreme. "More than Words." 2004. CD