Love and Intimacy – Do They Always Go Together?
Love encompasses a wide range of positive and strong psychological and emotional states, from an ultimate, unyielding commitment to the deepest personal pleasure, to the simplest recreational pleasure. There is always a way to love completely and utterly, to love your mate and love your life, with all your heart and with all your mind. When you love fully, you are not merely in love; you are at love. You are fully engaged in the experience of love. Your relationships with other people are always giving and always taking, never passive and always active.
Love is the distinctive quality that makes you unique and different from another person, the very essence of who you are, and what you do. When two people love each other they become and stay in love. They share the love for one another, and when they connect fully with their partner in this way, they attain intimacy. Intimacy is the turning of one’s attention to another person. The intimate person has intimacy because of the intimacy of his or her relationship with another person, and because of the inner satisfaction that love brings. Intimacy is a gift from God for married couples to enjoy each other, and to spend the rest of their lives in union.
Different people may come in different types of relationships. Some people may find deep, lasting love with a close friend or family member, while others may only have an intense, romantic relationship with a romantic partner, or with a spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend. While some relationships last, others may fizzle out within a few years. People may experience different types of intimacy.
The feeling of love, without any real physical intimacy, is called the “spark” that may occur in a relationship when two people come together in love, or in any other situation when one feels intensely attracted to another person. When these intense feelings of attraction occur, sometimes people can act on their attractions without taking the time to evaluate whether they are in a healthy relationship. They may act on the attraction without waiting for emotional compatibility in a partner. When this happens, a harmful tendency can develop in which a person tends to use the other person in ways that are not wholesome. This can often lead to unhealthy sexual behaviors, which can eventually lead to infidelity in a relationship.
The “spark” that can come from erotic love, or any other form of passionate love, can be considered to come from the same place – the heart. Erotic love occurs when two people experience similar emotions. It does not mean that they feel the same thing when they experience these emotions. As in all other forms of passionate love, people may find themselves being drawn toward someone, while at the same time being pulled away by someone else. If we look at the word, “love”, we will find that it comes from a Latin root, which means “to unite”.
This root also means “appreciation”. So, when one feels love, it is typically accompanied by appreciation, another word for which one can use – “appreciation”. When two people are in love, they are often inspired to show this emotion in many ways. However, if one person is highly attracted to a person, this emotion can be destructive in a relationship.
