Call to (love) action....

The Virginity Project is investigating a new area. One that often gets mentioned within the context of this blog. On the back of a feature I wrote for the Guardian recently, I am exploring the concept of LOVE. So put virginity loss aside for just a moment and tell me how would you define love? In whatever format resonates most for you, whether it’s romantic, familial or otherwise.

How have you experienced love? Do you think your understanding of love has changed as you have got older? And what is it that you understand now that you didn’t understand when you were younger?

I’d like to hear from any of you: men, women, old, young, gay and straight, all are welcome to contribute. Anonymity is guaranteed.

To get you started, have a think about the following:

Do you think that women and men love in the same way? How do they differ?

Do you think it’s easier or harder for us to ‘find love’ than it was for our parent’s generation?

How do we quantify love? More to the point, can we quantify love?  Does ‘real’ love involve compromise? How much?

How has modern technology changed the way we feel about love and relationships?

What is the difference between being ‘in love’ and just plain old ‘love’? And is being ‘in love’ actually plain old lust?

How does the world around us shape our perception of love?

And most importantly, what is your own personal experience of love?

As a sign off, tell me a song that you associate with ‘love’.  It could be a cheesy teenage number. It could be the sound track to a heart break. Or it could be, as an interviewee once said: ‘I was in My Fair Lady once and the lead guy had the most beautiful voice. He sang this one song, On The Street Where You Live, and I said, "Do you know, every time you sing that song, I have a feeling of being in love and I love it!"

I hope this inspires you. Email me your thoughts at: katemonroe@yahoo.com

Comments

[Ould Maaïke]

P.S. There was a time when all I knew about love - I had found it in the Beatles'songs. One song would be "And I love her" but it is built upon disconnected memories.
A good one is "Yesterday once more" ... I was in love but she was not thinking about me and never was. "She's a woman" is a good song too. "Roses of Picardy" I discovered recently - a great war's song. "A wither shade of pale" ... nothing new.
Songs like "Yesterday" are nice, beautiful or pathetic but, as they may talk for some people about love, for me they don't ; there's just the perfection of the music piece.