The Power of LOVE

     Aaaaahhhh..... Love. I love LOVE. I think that is one of the reasons I became a romance writer. Whether it's seeing people holding hands in public, looking at photos of friends getting married, watching a romance on TV or reading it in a romance novel, it's always fun to see people in love, and all romance novels have to end in a happy ending. YAY!!!

     Love, Amour, Aloha, Ai, Agapi, Gra, Leifde, Karlek, Upendo, Lyubit, Liebe, Ask.........in any language, love is a powerful emotion.
     By definition, love means adoration or very strong liking. Who wouldn't want to be adored? Other words for love are devotion, affection, fondness, friendship, passion and respect. All are words that conjure up an idea that someone enjoys your company and likes being around you. I think everyone has a desire to be liked for who they are.

     There are seven different types of Love. This was developed, from what I can tell, through Ancient Greek philosophy.
1.Eros- The hot steamy passionate love for another. This is the romantic soulmate love. The love beyond reason. The fun one to write about in the romance novels!
2.Philia- is a love for another in friendship. A love developed through companionship and trust. This love is the authentic love that knowing you can be your true self and share your true life with the other person.
3. Storge- is the familial love. The kind of love a parent has for their child. It's a love born out of familiarity and something that is unconditional.
4. Agape- The kind of love someone has for strangers, nature or God. This is a love sometimes defined as altruism or a love for the welfare of others
5. Ludus- Is the playful, flirty love. The no strings attached type of love.
6. Pragma- Sexual attraction is not in the forefront of this type of love but instead its more personal qualities, shared goals and making the relationship work. This love is sometimes born out of arranged marriages but can develop into one of the other types of love!
7. Philautia- is a self love. Everyone needs to learn to love themselves for all their quirks and awkwardness, before they can really love someone else. Some may take it a little too far and become arrogant and conceited. This is a love of self in a way of trusting your instincts. Having enough confidence to move forward with decisions you make and not always relying on another.

     When I write my novels, it's like taking a movie playing in my head and putting it on paper. I love watching my characters go from the fun, flirty, playful love into a deeper passionate love.

     I was recently asked by someone what my character's love language was. Do you know your love language? Better yet, do you know the love language of the people you love? Did you know there was such a thing as a love language? I have heard about the love languages many times but I don't know that I've actually explored what they are. So here we go!
1. Affirmation- Does it make your heart explode when someone gives you a compliment? Just by hearing, "Wow, you look amazing!" give you enough happiness to last you a month? If so, maybe affirmation is your main love language.
2. Time- Does it just knock your socks off having someone spend time with you in a good conversation or doing a project together? If that fills your heart up, your love language may be 'time'
3. Gifts- now everyone loves to be the recipient of gifts, and retailers definitely play upon that with their commercials. We all know giving gifts to our loved ones is surely a slam dunk for making them happy but for some, it is their love language. Receiving a gift to them is the perfect way to say I LOVE YOU.
4. Acts of Service- I'm going to be honest here. I think every young couple develops a need for the act of service love language when kids come into the picture. The more their spouse can help them with the day to day craziness of raising kids and trying to keep the house from exploding from laundry and dishes and muddy tracks and dirty diapers... well you get the picture, the more they feel their cup filled. Simple things like loading a dishwasher or taking out the trash or basically taking on a task that the spouse normally handles can mean everything to someone who has been up to their elbows with different crisis' throughout the day.
5. Physical Touch- I am a hugger...most of the time. If  you have the flu don't hug me, but for the most part, I love hugs. I think it has something to do with my southern upbringing. We wouldn't go as far as the kiss on each cheek greeting but hugging was just a way to show a person you were happy to see them. Scientific studies have proven that physical touch from an early age helps develop a healthier emotional life. For me, I think physical touch is up at the top of my love languages. I love it when my hubby holds my hand or gives me hugs. It really has very little to do with intimacy and much more to do with caring. When he holds my hand, it shows me that he enjoys my company, that he wants to be near me, that he cares for me. That means so much to me. Don't get me wrong, I like when he does the other 4 love languages that I spoke of, but ultimately, I love the hugs.