Chapter 6

This chapter discusses the general ideas about love and intimacy in relationships; however, it also goes into great deal with theories and even as far as how love can go wrong. To begin we learn that liking and loving are not so different, but in one way we find friendship and self-love (through liking) and in another we find attraction and relationships (through loving). We learn that love is multifaceted and has various dimensions such as respect. Later we see the difference between lust and love, and that lust may lead to romantic love, but usually it does not. Next, we see how care, intimacy, and commitment are three of the most important and useful facets in a working relationship. Various theories are then introduced to attempt to explain how we as humans perceive love and how it affects us in many ways. Nearing the end of the chapter we see many situational types of love and also how jealousy and control play roles in some unhealthy relationships.
From this chapter I gained the knowledge of a world view of love. I find it difficult to imagine that love is sometimes based on an arranged marriage or even controlled by jealousy from both males and females. It was also interesting to see a woman's view of intimacy as opposed to the male view (soft vs. sexual). While I find this chapter extremely interesting, it is amazing to find that an entire chapter can revolve around something that may be unattainable. Something that could be 'found' by some and never by others. Unrequited love was very interesting to me as well. I had never understood what it meant to have unrequited love until reading this section. I could not imagine loving someone and being cast aside based on physical appearance; this to be is difficult to fathom and truthfully sad.
My main question from this chapter is how do we explain love? How do we research something that is ever-changing and fluctuating? I truly do believe in love and can imagine spending my life with one other person, but is there not always a type of attraction or spark between more than just one person? I view these situations as the 'What-ifs?' in life and while we may push them aside, they are never forgotten.