<rant>
I am about to do something relatively unprecedented, something I've never done before. I am about to (somewhat) analytically rant about love.

Yes, you read correctly. I, the king of loners, the relationship retard (so to speak), am actually thinking about love.

I can't say what made me start to type this rant because I honestly don't know. Even if I did know, I still probably wouldn't say most of it (I'd just hint at it inside the rant and let people try to figure out the subtext, like I normally do). I really just decided that I wanted to, and given some events I've observed as of late, I feel that there is a lot to rant about.

First off, I would like to say, no, shout this, perhaps even at the top of my lungs: LOVE IS UNDEFINED, NOT FINITE (NOR DEFINITE), AND CERTAINLY NOT UNIVERSALLY UNDERSTOOD. I bet many of you know that, and perhaps even just said to yourself something along the lines of "Ben, I already knew this; don't tell me what I already know, etc.

But do you really know this? Do you?
I hate to sound like a Doubting Douglas (I'm more of a Vague Vincent) but I don't really believe that that all of you who say you do really do.

Anyway, I'm going to start be repeating (in a way) what I just "shouted." Love is undefined. There is no real definition. Some say it's a funny feeling you get, others say that it's something you just know, and many claim that it is simply finding who you are meant to be with, and everyone is meant to be with someone. However, people confuse love with many things (like lust, for there is only lust at first sight), and there are many levels of "love" that can go from friendship to close friends to more than friends and so on and so forth...
Since there are levels of love, it is definitely NOT finite. Since there are many levels and it can change depending on what happens between the people, it is truly not finite nor definite. Many people label things differently, and thus confusion can evolve out of people interpreting their love at different levels that the other. Thus, peoples love for each other isn't universally understood. Then again, neither is love as a whole.

It occurs to me that, at times, love can seem one-sided. Acaste in Moliere's Le Misanthrope said "...And that in any proper love affair / The lovers must invest an equal share," and I believe he has a very good point. I am not just referring to stalkers here. I know someone who, with her entire being, loves someone who has shunned her more times than I can count. Yet she loves him...or does she? Perhaps she does not love him, but is just obsessed with the idea of being with him, or perhaps she has convinced herself that she loves him and he loves her, and refuses to part with said belief. Neither of those cases count as love, now do they. So what happens when it is on a smaller scale? What if a guy likes a girl (much) more than the girl likes the guy (or vice versa)?
I still don't call it love. Affection - yes. Love - no.

Love is out there, it does exist. I want to say that it is out there for everyone, that there is someone for everyone, and that soul mates are real, but I cannot be sure. What I will say is this - some people do have soul mates and some people are meant for each other. I would love to say that for everyone, but I honestly don't know. It's out there for some people. You just have to know where to look, and you have to remember that you may feel a connection with someone, you may be attracted to someone, but that doesn't mean you're in love.
</rant>

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