A REFLECTION ON THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF LOVE

By: Mark Anthony Bryan O. Arimado

Magical, unexplainable, weird feeling, butterflies in the stomach,

and forever these are some descriptions that we usually think
when we hear the word LOVE, a word with just four letters but
actually has a lot of impressions to each of us. Some equate love
with many things existing in our world. Some bound to explain
love when in the first they havent got the chance to find and
experience it. But what does this word really mean? Is there really
such thing as falling in love and falling out of love? Now, let
me bring you my own reflection and perspective on what, how
and when Phenomenology of Love actually comes in.
It is according to Max Scheler that we usually equate love to what
it is not. We equate to respect, benevolence, fellow-feeling,
feeling-states, preference, and rejection of values, value
apprehension and even judgment. It is really with mans human
nature to mistake things to what they are not and had never
been. Love can be associate it with many things that we
experience and feel but that doesnt mean that it is love. But in
the first place why do we really love? Is it because its in our
nature being human to express love or is it because we love
because its a requisite to be called totally human? For me, we
love not because of any reason but because when we got the
chance to find that someone we simply love him/her
unconditionally. Loving is just loving something or someone. We
dont necessarily love because for example we want to make
him/her a better person. We do not necessarily love because that
person is ought to be like this or like that. Love doesnt really
have this kind of distinctions. When we are in love we should not
find what is not in him/her. We should not seek and expect higher
values and we should not desire to change our lover but what we
should do is be open and accepting of whatever he/she has and
who he/she really is, therefore, love is not really blind on that
note.
Loving is not loving when you just love because you share same
interest, because youve done a lot of sacrifices for your lover,

because of your attachment to him/her, because your lover

reminds you of a past lover and because you think alike. It also in
also in the phenomenon so-called love that we experience such
heart breaks and heart aches but whats really wonderful is after
all of those dark times, we learn how to let go, move on, have fun
again and see yourself experience love all over again.
Love doesnt cease to exist. It may change it form but wont really
disappear.
Genuine love is loving a person for all he/she is, with all the
weaknesses and flaws he/she possess, without expecting
anything in return, loving with all the best that you can, to love
unconditionally at the end of the day.