What is this thing "LOVE" that you speak of?

How do you define love? (Romantic love, I mean)
My current, but always ever-changing definition is this:
Love to me is caring deeply, intimacy/attraction, friendship, comfort with the person, trust, and bonding through common interests. The willingness to weather the storm, and pick up the pieces and rebuild when it subsides
Let me know your 2 cents!

Comments:

I agree with your list, but add respect!
Posted by Ms. Karen on January 20, 2007 - Saturday at 9:58 AM

yea i think its some stuff missing just that stuff alone doesnt seem to keep a lot of people around lol
Posted by *JoE sez: stop savin my pics to your harddrive ;P on January 20, 2007 - Saturday at 9:30 PM

so where's your addition?
Posted by nichole leigh :: photographer on January 20, 2007 - Saturday at 10:13 PM

my 2 cents to add would be you can't explain it fully EVER or you've never experienced it fully.
Posted by kiraannbaby© [janee] on January 20, 2007 - Saturday at 10:16 AM

Romantic love is fleeting ... I give up. Sorry hun.
Posted by Cocoalove (Flexwriter) on January 20, 2007 - Saturday at 11:02 PM

Quoting billy corgan I think it was who sang it.. "love..it's who you know"; of course lots of people probably have said it.. than there's also strapping young lads thought: Loooove....is the way I feel. that's kind of other peoples 2 cents that I agree with.. so to make it my 3 cents (cuz 3 is better than two) love is something that is most noteably recognized by putting each other through hell and than coming though that hell and having a stronger realtionship because of it...yep.
Posted by jAh~"who";;3k (Df)(Docd) on January 22, 2007 - Monday at 10:55 PM

Love (to me) has no description. There's no need to try to describe it, because it's a feeling. Feelings come in varying degrees. You can love something, but find disgust in it later, then find love with something else that is SO much stronger than your love for that first person. It's indescribable. However, I do have a very good description for true love. I heard it in either a movie or some television show, but still find it to be a very good description of 'true love', but not just 'love'. True Love: finding the counterpart of your soul in another person. 'Love' is used to describe your feelings on many things, not just people. 'True Love' is something completely different, as it is only used to describe your feelings for another person. Hope that helps a little....probably not, but that's just my take on this subject
Posted by Zack P. on January 24, 2007 - Wednesday at 4:14 PM

Here: Deep Poetic

Not a glutton so I know when I don't need anymore
None of that.
I'm good, I got it all inside.
Creativity is the fire
Dose on that all night
With a fever of ninety-nine degrees on my wall
And oiled brushes staining canvas like lovers' sheets
Method is my style
Control cock blocks my flow
And I'm intent on getting what's mine

Hanging on is a means to an end
Activates self-destruction
Go-on. Turn a blind eye
Only thing I'm gonna leave is:
'Wondering why'
I know it hurts them
To see me in this state
Where chaos and order make love day and night
In Exodus they all excuse themselves
Cutting losses
Taking comfort in hindsight

There's paradox in tragedy
They bathe in blood sweat and tears cuz I'm
Succeeding in pushing every last one outta my life.
Take the left AND the right just leave without a fight.
Some of em try and stay.
Weathering sub-tropic storms
That surround my life
Rewarded pain as a prize when they come along for the ride
I paint Gilligan's Island for 'em
Start dolling out refunds in no time

Hanging on is a means to an end
Activates self-destruction
Go-on. Turn a blind eye
Only thing I leave you is
Wondering why
I know it hurts
To see me in this state
Where chaos and order make love day and night
So follow as
They all excuse themselves
Cutting losses
Taking comfort in hindsight

But you.
You are still here.
Long after the linseed and oil have dried
And I used all the ashes to texturize
Beauty from the fury that destroyed
Without subsitance to keep itself alive.
Here. Reading braille when I'm blind.
You let me struggle, fail and compliment my life
Making love in copulas that bind
Got me wanting to stick around
Maybe, this time

one of those days

some days are better than others. some days just start off odd and you know by the way you wake up that it isn't going to be the best, not even close!

so you decide waking up that you didn't wake up soon enough to get the good "laying in bed thinking time" that you needed, your neck is stiff, and you waited far too long to drink your first cup of coffee and you're doomed to a headache for the rest of the day.

yep, it's one of those days for me. i'm certainly unavoidably irritated by everyone and everything. nope, no polyanna nichole this day. i tried my hardest to make the best out of each part of my day, but it just wasn't happening. i give. i surrender.

hope tomorrow turns out better.

Ugly

December 26, 2006 - Tuesday
Ugly


You took what you wanted.
Your pleasure in the midst of her pain.
If you see tears in a woman's eyes
You know you've cut her deep inside

Sex isn't always love
And love isn't always sex
This is selfish lust
That feeds your loins and destroys her soul.

She won't say a word
She's afraid she brouht it on
In his sick mind, there was consent
Because she didn't fight

But what was the point?
He wasn't going away
His face gnarled like vomit
As he climaxed

Now she can't hide from the image
That plays over in her mind
She can't hide from herself
Because he's etched in her mind.

8:47 PM - 3 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

What do YOU want from me?

Everybody wants something from the people they are near or communicate with. Sometimes though, people don't want to admit to that person what it is they want from him/her. They are either hiding something, embarrassed, scared, or just plain shy. Everyone wants something from the people we are with, whether it be companionship, love, entertainment, advice, ego strokes, friendship, etc.

The trouble is, most people don't ask for what they want from you. They just hang out until they get it and when they aren't getting it, they either adapt or go away. Worse yet is when they get it and skate leaving you feeling like a victim of a slick swindle.

The other day a friend called that I don't talk to very often and the conversation just went limp. I kept thinking, what do you want from me? You keep calling and we never have anything to say. If it's such an effort to pull out words., how can we relate? So all that's left is: what does she WANT?

Last night, a casual friend called and asked if I could go have a drink. The whole time we were together, I kept wondering to myself, "What do you want from me?" I'm pretty sure I had it figured out, but I just couldn't understand the point. Have I just become so incredibly jaded that I assume everyone's motives long before I give them the chance to prove their integrity?

I wonder when someone wants to start a friendship, why? I mean it all made sense when I was younger and thought everyone was genuine and we were exploring and finding what we wanted in life. But why at our age seek out new friends? I am suspicious that this new person has failed miserably at friendship. What else could it be? If THEY are so great, they should have sufficient people to fill their lives and have little room to start a new venture. They would be spreading themselves too thin.

It's easy to see why single men and women would seek each other out, but coupled men and women, what are they seeking in others? What are others seeking in them?

I don't necessarily want you all to think I'm pessimistic. I just want to know. Not to be rude, or get my ego stroked. I just wish I knew. From him and her, and YOU!

Is the bar set too high?

I had a lovely convo with an old friend very recently. It's really a lot to absorb, so I'm going to mull it over publically and let you all in to hear my brain process...

1. I asked him why he wasn't dating anyone. He's smart, funny, adorable, so what gives? He said in a nutshell, he doesn't like anyone. He said that there are certain requirements that one has at thirty-five. Simple things, like, he wants to LIKE the person. Is that too much to ask? That we like the one we are involved with? Is the bar set too high?

2. After laughing myself silly, we talked about sex, friends, friends with benefits, lovers, being in love, breaking up, exes, baggage and then on to the innocent past. I talked about my last three serious relationships and then I just asked simply, why was I so afraid of boys when I was young? In some ways I love men my age and being involved with an intellecually stimulating, witty, beautiful man I can relate to, but there's a part of me that just wonders why I never tried to have a relationship when I was young. If they are so great now, why not then? I think of a handfull of guys back in the day that were my friends and admittadly, attractive. They all have turned out successful and interesting. So what was wrong with dating them back then?

3. We talked on, about things other people don't relate to and our commonalities. We talked about our youth, our experiences together and people from our past. Then suddenly I mentioned a name. THE "name". He litterally dropped and said wow, that's a name that took me back. He told me, man you were so in love with that guy. I didn't know why, but he was right. I spent high school in love with a fantasy of a man that never was or could have been the right person for me. But I liked him. It didn't hurt that he was Gorgeous, but I just simply liked him.

4. I missed out on the experiences I guess most girls have at that age because I set the bar early on that I had to like the guy. No matter about other things, those things terrified me. I just wanted to really like him. I didn't really like anyone in my twenties. I figgured I could get what I wanted dating here and there and just hold out for someone I liked. It seemed to get increasingly difficult as each year passed.

5. Now, the best thing I can say about the people in my life is, that I like them. When we find someone we like, we better just stick with it and appreciate it like Janis Joplin says: "If you got a cat for one day, ...if you want a cat for 365 days, right you aint got him for 365 days, you got him for one day. ...that one day better be your life, man. because, ...you can cry about the other 364, but youre gonna lose that one day, man, and that's all you've got. You gotta call that love."

Quantum Love Girl

September 10, 2006 - Sunday
"Quantum Love Girl"


Emotional intellect

Seems as though this is a deadly mix in the current paradigm.

Logic overrides life as it tries to make sense of and control the emotions.
Just like making sense of quantum through the "Many Worlds" theory allows us
to roll from one state into another, where all statistical laws break down
and cold flows to hot and hot to cold. Never quite satisfactory, like an
impossible proof. She's in a whirlwind wishing she had the mind of
Beyonce' instead of Sting.

Intellectual emo

Wishing for simplicity and calm. All is well when there is no puzzle.
Puzzles break her down into a million pieces. So she throws an apple out
the window, watching it shatter onto the ground below. Oh, to live in a
pure time when thought was revered. Now we look to brevity and short
skirts.

Feel good girls with poetic smiles, not thoughts.

Watch the apples roll off of her fingertips into a perfect state of free-fall till they hit the ground making a sound of glass wrapped in cloth, like the heart.

cuasssh!

She travels to the edge of town sits down in the ghetto. She feels so comfortable in her Prada shoes listening to Mozart. "Rock Me Amadeus"

Why must she consent to the world that wants her to read Tom Robbins when she wants Dosteyeski and Plato?

To hold those in her life dear? Why can't she be revered? She'll serve you when you crave her flavor, but everybody knows that you can't stomach to taste what is rich for every meal. Maybe next weekend when you tire of your Honey Bunches of Oats and burnt spaghetti.

7:28 PM - 8 Comments - 14 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

I never loved her

September 5, 2006 - Tuesday
"POETRY, I THINK...."


the mathematics never did add up...
one plus three, it's just not me said he

what did she expect? my loving would make it all ok?
she must have been crazy to think that they were worthy
I'm far too good to bend to that breeze

I tried to conceal it and make her see
through my love that I was all she would need.
I didn't tell her the solution for me was: it's not meant to be

I want her, but not her family, can I avoid them?
I want her, but not her friends, if I detest them enough will she let them go?
I want her, but not her dog I'm glad he's gone

Today I can see, that I really don't want her at all
"Let's have this conversation tomorrow"
Cuz tomorrow never comes....

She just goes away
and it's okay,
because I never loved her anyway....


7:14 AM - 9 Comments - 11 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Now that's some Baby-Makin' stuff!

Current mood: pleased
Category: Romance and Relationships

Last night....

You cuddled your head under my arm and slowly grazed your hand accross my stomach
Playing with my panties with a knowing touch as to what you were stimulating underneath
A slow movement up to my breasts exciting my breath to a quick steady pace.

You untucked your face from my arm and slowly moved down my tummy
Down to my freshly trimmed garden, ready to graze on my fruits
You, stimulating my waterfall thats pours my sweet love all over you
Me, welcoming you up to put your strength inside of me, swimming in the pool of life

I feel so much pleasure as you slide easily in and out of me
I keep a strong yet graceful grip around you as you explore inside
Just enough friction to feel like a glove, slick with the juices that welcome you home
I'm caught up in the pleasure and throw the pillow over my face
My body is on fire, blood pulsing through my pleasure zones.
Your arms hold me effortlessly
You whisper my name as I grab your thigh to pull you in deeper and tighter
My body moans with my mouth's sighs
I'm ready, you're ready
You give me your seed to make mine

Katrina: Gulfport, Mississippi 9 months later

The feeling is indescribable as I drive my rental car along the bumpy highway. She had given me a tour the day before, but I wasn't prepared. I really couldn't fathom what I was about to see. Only three rolls of film, so I put the camera down on the car seat next to me and rolled the window all the way down. The humid salty air painted my skin as it whipped into the truck. I caught myself holding my breath until I choked. She would interject into my desperate babbling from time to time to give me some "locals-only" insider knowledge as to what I was seeing. I was happy to hear her voice as it meant my own incessant chatter and bewilderment could rest for a moment. On the other hand, her words created a sad desperation of their own to mark my heart like few other experiences.

I felt like I was stuck in a quasi-world dangling between the decadent South, a war-zone, a third world country, and an old settler's baron land. Addresses marked on dying hundred-year-old oak trees with nervous spray paint. It was hard to tell where we were without the markings. I kept imagining the horror of those stranded or too weak to evacuate. The shrimp boats catapulted into the trees, tucked away in the marsh.

I'm back the second day on my own this time. Fully stocked with film and free to stop and soak in the surroundings as I catalog what I can see in 35 mm roll after roll. The beach is closed except for carefully combed sections of pristine white Gulf-Coast sand. The scene is scant so I casually stroll off to the restricted portions of the waters. Here is where I find a treasure trove of wreckage and a host of saturated items representing lifetimes of memories and accumulation of personal stories. Mattresses rotten and algae trimmed caught under the haggard, broken docks. A microwave oven clinging to the branches of an old oak tree lofting in the shallow beach waters. No one will ever know the extent of the items that have taken up residence in the warm, welcoming waters. A ladies handbag washed up on shore adorned with proud barnacles sits lonely in the sand.

Once elegant Southern palaces with their garage-conversion slave quarters sit gutted. Foundations remain as a newfound patio for the luxury of a FEMA trailer.

The nearby cemetery is disheveled as if having fallen prey to pipe bombs. I close my eyes and suck in a deep sigh as her words float in my mind "yes, there were caskets floating in the flood waters."

Photos: copyright 2006 Nichole Leigh