Monday, August 31, 2009

Helpful Tips on Influencing Your Boyfriend to Propose

There are some things in life that do not neatly fall into what we consider the logical pattern to be. One of the best examples concerns the building of lasting relationships between us and our male counterparts. For us, it seems only logical to tell our boyfriends how we would like to get married since we are in love anyway. Unfortunately, the men do not usually see things from the same angle, and such a step can just do more harm than good.

This difference between us and the men often creates a lot of misunderstandings and heartaches. While we would like to take our relationships beyond the dating stage, many men seem to stall at this point. Some of them just won't talk about the issue of marriage at all. Others will make it clear that marriage is not something they are after at any time in the near future. This causes a great deal of frustration.

If you are dating a man who seems content with the status quo, what should you do? It is actually possible to take measures that will influence your man to propose to you soon. Although the steps mentioned here may not appear as logical as you would expect, they are what create the desired changes.

Don't bring the issue of marriage

If you want to encourage your boyfriend to take your relationship more seriously, you should not keep telling him about it. Instead, drop all talk that concerns marriage in any way. Whether it is about your own expectations or discussing the marriage of other friends, this is something that will instinctively make the man go to the defensive. He will resist the idea you are bringing, and this will just create friction between you.

In addition, do not try to be smart by just leaving bridal magazines at places where he is bound to find them. Whether it is directly or indirectly, you should avoid bringing the idea of marriage. It is when you stop talking about marriage that he will actually think more about it.

Make yourself appealing to him

If you think that boldly talking about marriage will make you more appealing, then you are wrong. Basically, this clearly gives the impression that you are entirely available to him. He will thus relax his efforts, and won't feel the urge to do anything more.

This is due to the fact that men love the chase. When you do not challenge your boyfriend to pursue after you, you will be less appealing. You should therefore let him miss you by not being always available and he will come after you.

Keep yourself busy with other things instead of focusing on marriage all the time. When there seems to be some space between you and your boyfriend, he will commit in order to close that gap.

These are some of the methods that you can use to influence your boyfriend to propose.

by Teecee Go

Sunday, August 30, 2009

3 Surefire Ways to Know If Your Boyfriend Is Ready to Commit

One of the areas where we generally fair better than men is in sharing our feelings. This is something that many men find a lot of difficulties with. It can be very frustrating if you are dating a man who does not talk about what he feels at all. However, there are signs that he will display unconsciously that will help you to determine what is going on at the back of his mind and heart. If your boyfriend is ready to commit, these signs will let you know what is happening long before he actually says it.

If you are interested in seeing your relationship moving to the next level, you should take note of the following things.

1. He introduces you to his acquaintances

One of the ways through which you will determine whether your boyfriend is serious about your relationship is when he introduces you to the people who are close to him. A man who is just flirting around will rarely, if ever, introduce you to important people in his life. This is especially the case when it comes to members of his family. So, when your boyfriend takes this step, it is a clear indication that he is confident about making deeper commitment with you.

2. The frequency of his contacts with you

A man who is serious about taking things further will get in touch with you every now and then. At times he will call you just to hear your voice. This shows that you feature prominently in his mind.

3. He asks about your opinion

A man who is in love with you and would like to make a commitment will tend to ask for your opinion about things that matter to him. This is a way by which he is opening up to you, allowing you to share part of his life, and only a serious man will do this.

These signs will show that your boyfriend is getting ready to walk down the aisle with you. However, if you do not see such signs, you should not lose heart. There are definite steps that you can take to influence him to be more serious. If you are convinced that he is the man you should spend the rest of your life with, you do not have to wait for him to propose. You can urge him towards it, but subtly.

by Teecee Go

Candles For First Philippine Woman President

A year after she was diagnosed with colon cancer, Former President Corazon C. Aquino succumbed to the disease. President Aquino has been in confinement at the Makati Medical Center since June this year where she received medical attention and had took pain medications. And after a month of fighting, the beloved president joined our Creator and her husband. The devastating news was delivered by her only son, Senator Noynoy Aquino via public announcement at around 6:30 am on Saturday morning.
Aquino's demise has gripped the Filipinos because of her contribution in restoring peace and democracy to their country. It can be noted that her husband, then-Senator Ninoy Aquino, was assassinated at the Manila International Airport (now the Ninoy Aquino International Airport) the moment he went down from the plane he flew in. From then on, the simple yet intelligent widow became the symbol of Filipino's hope for freedom from the Marcos regime.
It was on February of 1986 where democracy and freedom has at last been given back to the hands of the Filipino people. The now infamous People Power Revolution became the mark of how Filipinos valued their independence and the love for their country. Mrs. Aquino served as their strength to combat military forces and ammunitions. She still remains seen as an icon of freedom.
And after peacefully stepping down from power, Cory Aquino did not turn her back when it came to serving her country. Thus, she became the country's guiding force to national issues and also serves as the living proof that even presidents can be simple, humble and religious. These traits endeared her more to her countrymen. Her intelligent opinions regarding Arroyo's administration and the proposed charter change has been valued greatly by politicians and the common people as well.
And now, as she takes the journey to eternity, The Black and White Movement will have a candle-lighting ceremony. The activity will take place at the Ayala Tower 1 in Ayala Avenue near Paseo de Roxas in Makati City. According to Leah Navarro, one of the organizers, they chose this venue because of its historic relevance to the life of Tita Cory. It can be remembered that it was in the same place that Aquino marched for her presidency while supporters showered her with yellow confetti.
The candle-lighting ceremony will take place at 9 am. Navarro also states that prayers will be offered and this is their way of showing support and respecting the family's privacy at their moment of grief while they wait for the details of President Cory's wake. Soy candles, beeswax candles and even ordinary candles can be lit because as what President Cory epitomizes - even presidents can be a common person too.
by Krystal Bennion

3 Things to Do to Make Your Boyfriend Yearn For Marriage

Although it is something that drives many of us crazy, the fact is that many men are very reluctant when it comes to making commitment for marriage. It is very common to find men who will say how much they love us but then avoid anything that can bring up the issue of lasting commitment. If your boyfriend is of this type, you can go through a great deal of frustration in case you are already considering marriage. What should you do in such a case?

There are basically two options open to you. First of all, you may resign yourself to the circumstances, and either wait endlessly for him to propose or move on to another relationship. Secondly, you can decide to take measures that will move your boyfriend out of his comfort zone so that he decides to marry. There are actually a few simple steps that can help you to make your man yearn for commitment, which you should take advantage of.

1. Use reverse psychology

A very effective method in making your boyfriend long for marriage is not to talk about the topic in the first place. Trying to raise the issue of marriage will just make your boyfriend build more resistance. It will appear as if you are trying to push him into a corner, a situation that no man appreciates.

It is when you show no interest in marriage that your boyfriend will instead be interested in the matter. This is basically due to the fact that men enjoy the thrill of chasing, and satisfaction of reaching success. On the other hand, if they notice that they are the ones being hunted, they will instinctively pull out. Challenge him to the chase, and he is bound to come after you. In the process, he will at last decide to commit to marriage.

2. Pull back a bit

If you are dating a man who does not seem to have any interest in tying the knot, you may think that you risk losing him when you are not always available to him. Unfortunately, this will just make him see no sense in making any more effort. You should instead pull back so that he will have something to miss in you. It is this that will arouse his interest.

3. Maintain your independence

If you sacrifice your independence in the hope that this is what will make him want to marry you, then you are wrong. Do not let go of your interests, and always take care of your financial responsibilities. It is by maintaining your own individuality that you will appeal more to your boyfriend, and thus he will yearn to take your hand in marriage.

As you can see, influencing your boyfriend to long for marriage is not really as complicated as it seems at first.

by Teecee Go

4 Tell-tale Signs to Determine Your Boyfriend's Commitment to You

Have you ever been in a relationship where you have really wanted to know your boyfriend's stance? Perhaps he does not talk about commitment at all. Or perhaps he tells you that he is committed but you would like to ascertain the naked truth. This is a situation that many of us easily find ourselves in. There are times when you may be engulfed in doubt, a situation that can leave you quite frustrated. Fortunately, there are some signs that can help you to know what is really going on at the back of his mind.

1. Determine the time you spend together

Men usually go to great lengths to be in the company of the women they love. Your boyfriend may not consider it an inconvenience to travel long distances to have just a few moments in your presence when he really adores you. Does he try to spend every little time he can with you?

During the times when he can not be physically present, a committed boyfriend will call you every now and then, sometimes just to say hi. On the other hand, a guy who has one reason after another for not showing up or calling you still has no intentions of outgrowing the dating stage.

2. Listen to what he says

A guy who is serious about commitment will share his future plans with you. He will not just talk about his future; there will be a definite way that will show you that he is actually considering you as part of his future life. You will notice that he talks about things in plural terms although he is single. This means that he is already including you in his life. A boyfriend who still enjoys dating will not talk about his future in such a manner.

3. What about his money?

A guy who is ready to commit will take great care with what he does with his money. Such a man will plan of investing his money in a variety of profitable ventures.

It is even more telling if he takes you as he looks for what to invest in. For instance, he may want your company as he looks for a home to purchase. This shows that he would like your input in his future.

4. Check who he introduces you to

Only a serious guy will take the step of introducing you to people who are close and dear to him, such as his family members. If this happens, know that he is ready to commit.

These are just a few examples of the signs that will help you to determine if your boyfriend is truly serious about walking down the aisle with you.

by Teecee Go

He Left and You Want Him Back - Understanding Why He Left in the First Place

After a few months (or even a few years) of a relationship, it is hard to imagine a couple breaking up for trivial purposes. After a certain point, most couples have to have a serious conflict that will separate them. Are you interested in learning about one of the reasons a guy would leave a long-term relationship?

Since breakups are rough on both parties, depression will often hit... even the one who initiated the breakup. Sometimes depression gets to such a level that many people will go see a therapist. Many guys who have been to see a therapist and shared their reason for leaving someone they really love have said something that was rather disturbing. Nearly all men said: "She wasn't happy with me any longer. Everything I did was pointless in making her happy."

It says a lot when a guy will admit to something like this because they tend to keep their feelings to themselves. What this statement says about a guy is that he needs to feel admired and from the moment you stopped showing your happiness is the moment he no longer felt admired or even respected. A guy wants to know that no matter what... he can make you happy. A guy can face through miles of rocky road so long as he can see that you're happy.

If your boyfriend left you and you don't understand why, perhaps this is the reason. If it is then what you need to do is work towards showing your ex that he makes you happy. You can't just tell him because actions speak a lot louder than words; you need to show him you're happy with him and what he does for you.

by Teecee Go

Rebound Relationship - How You Can Use it To Your Advantage

There's nothing worse than running into a glass wall when you thought your path was clear. That's probably what it felt like when you've been working extra hard to put your life into one piece after your breakup only to find your ex has already moved on with another woman. However, before you go jumping to conclusions, you should realize that there's more likely the chance that your ex is just in a rebound relationship. It doesn't mean that he has already moved on from being in love with you.

A rebound relationship is nothing to worry about. A rebound relationship is another chance to get back in the game. Rarely do these sorts of relationship actually work out because people don't go into them looking for a long-term relationship. It's just a healing process for most people that will help them feel attractive and wanted again.

In fact, if you were to get involved in a rebound relationship, you'd understand how your ex is feeling. It's amazing at how powerful the companionship with another person is. It can build up your self-esteem and confidence. That is what a rebound relationship does to the degraded person that feels they were left on the curb with the garbage.

Having a rebound relationship doesn't mean you're moving on. Your ultimate goal can still be to get your ex back while you are in a rebound relationship. This sort of relationship can give you the confidence so when you finally do get the nerve to talk to your ex about getting back together you won't feel as anxious. A rebound relationship is practice for you to learn how to open your heart and feel again. Don't turn your nose down on a rebound relationship just because you're hoping to get back together with your ex.

by Teecee Go

Why Are Copycat Restaurant Recipes So Popular?

I enjoy searching the web, magazines and cookbooks for new recipes. I love to cook and am always on the lookout for the next yummy dish to try. Over the past few months I've noticed that a lot of copycat recipes for popular restaurant dishes have popped up all over the place. There are recipes for Outback Steakhouse's Boomin Onion, Red Lobster's biscuits and even KFC Chicken (Whatever happened to the "secret" herbs and spices? Not so secret anymore I guess).

This has gotten me thinking about why these recipes are suddenly so popular. After-all people have been enjoying these dishes at the various restaurants for years. So what has changed? The amount of money we can spend on non-essential things like eating out. The recent downturn in the economy has many of us cooking at home instead of eating out and it is no wonder that we still want to enjoy some of our favorite restaurant meals. We're just no longer willing to spend restaurant prices for them.

How do you go about finding these "secret" recipes? I like to start my search at google. I do a simple search for the name of the dish and then add copycat recipe. For example KFC Chicken copycat recipe or copycat recipe for KFC Chicken.

There are of course also quite a few cookbooks on the market that cater to the copycat cooker crowd. Visit your local library to check them out, or browse through the selection at your favorite bookstore. A glance through the table of content will usually tell you right away if your favorite recipe is in the book.

Once you've come across a promising recipe, give it a try and see (or better taste) how it turns out. You won't always get it on the first try. Pick another recipe or make some changes to the one you started out with until you get it just right and the way your favorite restaurant served it. Then plate it up, light some candles and enjoy your favorite dish "restaurant-style". It's well worth the effort.

by Marie-Claire Arceneau

Swimming on Your Own to Determine If You Want Your Ex Back

You're probably asking yourself a million and one questions right now in regards to your breakup. "Why did he leave me?", "Will I be able to live now that he's not in my life?", "How do I get him back?" etc. There is one question that you probably haven't even thought of yet, "Do I want my ex back?"

As hurt as you are, it's time you really consider this question. Frequently the feelings of despair, loss, and hopelessness are all put under the category of missing your ex. Are you really missing your ex or are you missing companionship? It's easy to become complacent in a relationship and just go with the flow of what life throws at you. When you're suddenly capsized and alone all you can think about is not drowning. It's all right. Put your feet down and you'll realize that the water is only knee-deep.

You might just realize that you don't need a flotation device after all. It's likely that your ex had become your flotation device. The truth is you might just be missing your ex because you were complacent with having him in your life. Now that he's not, though, it's time to learn to swim again. Once you've become comfortable with swimming on your own for a bit, you can make the decision if you really need your ex back or not.

No matter what you choose, there is nothing for you to be ashamed of. Both are acceptable wants. You may very well still love your ex but if you don't then there's no point in getting back together. Analyze your feelings before jumping back into a situation that could be potentially harmful. If your ex sees you as being desperate, he might be more willing to take advantage of you.

The true test for knowing if you're still in love is if you take some time off from thinking about your ex or seeing him. Depending on how you feel about him after some time alone will determine what you really want and if it's worth making a plan to get your ex back.

by Teecee Go

Is It Too Late? Working to Know if You Really Want Your Ex Back

If you're wondering if it's "too late" to get back with your ex after you've had a hard breakup, you've come to the right place. Here is the answer: Most relationships can withstand at least one breakup.

There are, of course, certain circumstances that would prevent a breakup from being fixable but at least 90 percent of couples that separate could be reunited if both parties were willing to work to make necessary changes.

Reflecting upon your own wants and needs, it's important for you to determine if you really do want your ex back or if you're just missing his companionship. People do grow apart even if they've been together for some time but they aren't willing to actually separate. It's due to their being accustomed to having someone. What is the real reason you want your ex back?

If you still love your ex then there is no reason to stop you from making a plan and pursuing it... until you get your ex back. However, pursuing a relationship just for the sake of having a companion could be disastrous. It could also hurt both you and your companion in the long run.

If the problems that occurred within your relationship are things that can be changed, then it's perfectly fine to work towards patching things up. However, if you just want companionship, it would be better for you to find someone that would better suit you. There are plenty of people out there that can provide you the necessary attention, caring and dedication that you need to be happy in a relationship.

Once you determine what it really is that you want there is nothing to stop you from getting it. Take the time after a breakup to make the right decision so no one else has to hurt.

by Teecee Go

The Benefits of Buying an Electronic Drum Set

You probably know the main problem with a proper drum set is the noise, if you live in a neighborhood that is close together or a shared house, then it will not be long before someone gets angry and tells you to keep the noise down. You can try putting dampeners on your drum heads but this doesn't always work, plus you've still got the noise of the cymbals that will be heard through the walls.

An electronic drum kit overcomes the primary problem for persons who live within an high-rise - upsetting the neighbors. With an electronic set, you have the capability to lob on a pair of headphones and perform as loud as you feel like. The solitary sound your neighbors would be able to hear is your sticks hitting the pads and I promise you that your television or cd player gets noisier than that.

Space is another problem if your going to use an electronic drum set in an apartment. There is not an adequate amount of area to fit a drum kit unless you are willing to sacrifice your big pieces of furniture. With an electronic drum set, you don't have the bulk that you have with an acoustic kit. If you need to, you may possibly even take an electronic set down once you have finished and keep it inside a cupboard or corner somewhere.

Electronic drums hold other advantages over acoustic sets as well. There is never a need to tune the set or be bothered about cold or dampness upsetting the overall sound of the set. You even maintain the preference to adjust the sound of the set to make it sound like you're live in a big hall or a tiny jazz club. A good number of electronic sets allow you to connect up your iPod or mp3 player so that you can perform along with your favorite tunes and find the correct mix in your headphones. This is something you can not do with an ordinary drum set.

Electronic drum sets are not as expressive as an ordinary kit. The newer kits are getting closer, but the feel definitely isn't the same. If you use brushes on an acoustic set, you won't be able to on an electronic set.

Performing live can be a seem unusual at first if you are used to an ordinary kit. You are at the mercy of the pa sound system, but there again so is everyone else, but you'll probably find it quicker to setup, due to not having to microphone the kit up.

There are a lot of advantages that electronic drums over ordinary kits and no more than a small amount of disadvantages. If you live in an apartment house and think that playing the drums has to take place outside your dwelling, check out a few electronic kits. You'll practice often if they are around your home and you might now start to love the thought of playing on an electronic set as opposed to an ordinary kit.

by Mark James

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Love, American Style

Love, American Style is an hour-long television anthology which was produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974. For the 1971 and 1972 seasons it was a part of an ABC Friday prime-time lineup that also included The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Room 222, and The Odd Couple.

Each week, the show featured different stories of romance, usually with a comedic spin. All episodes were unrelated, featuring different characters, stories and locations. The show often featured the same actors playing different characters in many episodes. In addition a large and ornate brass bed was a recurring prop in many episodes. Charles Fox's delicate yet hip music score, featuring flutes, harp, and flugelhorn set to a contemporary pop beat, provided the "love" ambiance which tied the stories together as a multifaceted romantic comedy each week.

For its first season, the theme song was performed by The Cowsills. Starting in the second season, the same theme song was sung by John Bahler, Tom Bahler, and Ron Hicklin, (billed as "The Charles Fox Singers"), and was carried on for the remainder of the series, as well as most episodes in syndication.

In many ways the show initiated the "mini comedic soap opera" form used and "perfected" later on by Spelling for The Love Boat. While it lacked the connective threads that The Love Boat used, it generally told the same sort of "cotton candy" light emotional stories about underlying aspects of love, romance, and human relationships.

The title is loosely derived from a 1961 Italian comedy film called Divorzio all'italiana (Divorce, Italian Style), which won Academy Award nominations in 1962 for Best Director for Pietro Germi and for Best Actor for star Marcello Mastroianni. The film was later spoofed in 1967 by Divorce, American Style, starring Dick Van Dyke. The term "(xxx), (nationality) Style" became a minor cultural meme as the sixties progressed.

The original series was also known for its 10–20 second drop-in silent movie style "joke clips" between the featured segments. This regular troupe featured future Rockford Files cast member Stuart Margolin, future Vega$ leading lady Phyllis Davis, and a young character actor, James Hampton (F Troop, The Longest Yard). These clips allowed the show to be padded to the required length without padding the main segments. They generally consisted of then-risque, burlesque-style comedy of manners visual jokes.

The show subsequently became a daytime standard in syndication, since it was readily edited down to a half-hour by the proper interweaving of the clips with a main segment, allowing for heavy stripping. By this technique five years of shows became effectively ten as far as stripping went.

A decade after it went off the air, a new version premiered on ABC's daytime schedule in 1985 entitled New Love, American Style but was canceled after a few months due to low ratings against The Price Is Right on CBS. A third edition, starring Melissa Joan Hart among others, was shot as a pilot for the 1998–1999 television season but was not ordered into a series. Nevertheless, ABC aired the pilot on February 20, 1999.

 

Happy Days

Garry Marshall was known to enjoy saying that Love, American Style was where failed sitcom pilots went to die, and there was much truth to that. Many times, if a TV producer could not find a network interested in a sitcom pilot he had made, he would sell the unused script to Aaron Spelling, who would use the funniest bits of the pilot as a segment on Love, American Style.

In 1972, Garry Marshall came up with a concept for a sitcom about teenagers growing up in the 1950s, and shot a pilot which he titled New Family In Town, starring Ron Howard (as Richie), Marion Ross (as Richie's mother), and Anson Williams (as Potsie, Richie's friend), Harold Gould (as Howard, Richie's father), Susan Neher (Joanie, Richie's sister), and Ric Carrott (Chuck, Richie's brother).

Marshall tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the sitcom to all three networks. At last, he sold the pilot to Spelling, who aired the show in February 1972 as "Love and the Happy Days".

Shortly afterward, the movie American Graffiti and the Broadway musical Grease led to a wave of 1950s nostalgia, and ABC executives decided to buy Marshall's pilot - Happy Days, which became a huge hit and ran for eleven years. Gould, Neher, and Carrott were all replaced when the series launched.

Love

As an abstract concept, love usually refers to a deep, ineffable feeling of tenderly caring for another person. Even this limited conception of love, however, encompasses a wealth of different feelings, from the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love to the nonsexual emotional closeness of familial and platonic love[2] to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love.[3] Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.


Definitions
Fraternal love (Prehispanic sculpture from 250–900 A.D., of Huastec origin). Museum of Anthropology in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
The English word "love" can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Often, other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that English relies mainly on "love" to encapsulate; one example is the plurality of Greek words for "love." Cultural differences in conceptualizing love thus make it doubly difficult to establish any universal definition.[4]
Although the nature or essence of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what isn't love. As a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like), love is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy); as a less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is commonly contrasted with friendship, although other definitions of the word love may be applied to close friendships in certain contexts.
When discussed in the abstract, love usually refers to interpersonal love, an experience felt by a person for another person. Love often involves caring for or identifying with a person or thing, including oneself (cf. narcissism).
In addition to cross-cultural differences in understanding love, ideas about love have also changed greatly over time. Some historians date modern conceptions of romantic love to courtly Europe during or after the Middle Ages, although the prior existence of romantic attachments is attested by ancient love poetry.[5]

Two hands forming the outline of a heart shape.
Because of the complex and abstract nature of love, discourse on love is commonly reduced to a thought-terminating cliché, and there are a number of common proverbs regarding love, from Virgil's "Love conquers all" to the Beatles' "All you need is love." Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of "absolute value," as opposed to relative value. Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz said that love is "to be delighted by the happiness of another."[6]

Impersonal love
A person can be said to love a country, principle, or goal if they value it greatly and are deeply committed to it. Similarly, compassionate outreach and volunteer workers' "love" of their cause may sometimes be borne not of interpersonal love, but impersonal love coupled with altruism and strong political convictions. People can also "love" material objects, animals, or activities if they invest themselves in bonding or otherwise identifying with those things. If sexual passion is also involved, this condition is called paraphilia.[7]

Interpersonal love

Archetypal lovers Romeo and Juliet portrayed by Frank Dicksee.
Interpersonal love refers to love between human beings. It is a more potent sentiment than a simple liking for another. Unrequited love refers to those feelings of love that are not reciprocated. Interpersonal love is most closely associated with interpersonal relationships. Such love might exist between family members, friends, and couples. There are also a number of psychological disorders related to love, such as erotomania.
Throughout history, philosophy and religion have done the most speculation on the phenomenon of love. In the last century, the science of psychology has written a great deal on the subject. In recent years, the sciences of evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, neuroscience, and biology have added to the understanding of the nature and function of love.

Chemical basis

Simplified overview of the chemical basis of love.
Main article: Love (scientific views)
Biological models of sex tend to view love as a mammalian drive, much like hunger or thirst.[8] Helen Fisher, a leading expert in the topic of love, divides the experience of love into three partly overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment. Lust exposes people to others; romantic attraction encourages people to focus their energy on mating; and attachment involves tolerating the spouse (or indeed the child) long enough to rear a child into infancy.
Lust is the initial passionate sexual desire that promotes mating, and involves the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and estrogen. These effects rarely last more than a few weeks or months. Attraction is the more individualized and romantic desire for a specific candidate for mating, which develops out of lust as commitment to an individual mate forms. Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, including pheromones, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which act in a manner similar to amphetamines, stimulating the brain's pleasure center and leading to side effects such as increased heart rate, loss of appetite and sleep, and an intense feeling of excitement. Research has indicated that this stage generally lasts from one and a half to three years.[9]
Since the lust and attraction stages are both considered temporary, a third stage is needed to account for long-term relationships. Attachment is the bonding that promotes relationships lasting for many years and even decades. Attachment is generally based on commitments such as marriage and children, or on mutual friendship based on things like shared interests. It has been linked to higher levels of the chemicals oxytocin and vasopressin to a greater degree than short-term relationships have.[9]
Enzo Emanuele and coworkers reported the protein molecule known as the nerve growth factor (NGF) has high levels when people first fall in love, but these return to previous levels after one year. [10]

Psychological basis
Further information: Human bonding

Grandmother and grandchild,Sri Lanka
Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and social phenomenon. Psychologist Robert Sternberg formulated a triangular theory of love and argued that love has three different components: intimacy, commitment, and passion. Intimacy is a form in which two people share confidences and various details of their personal lives, and is usually shown in friendships and romantic love affairs. Commitment, on the other hand, is the expectation that the relationship is permanent. The last and most common form of love is sexual attraction and passion. Passionate love is shown in infatuation as well as romantic love. All forms of love are viewed as varying combinations of these three components. American psychologist Zick Rubin seeks to define love by psychometrics. His work states that three factors constitute love: attachment, caring, and intimacy.[11] [12]
Following developments in electrical theories such as Coulomb's law, which showed that positive and negative charges attract, analogs in human life were developed, such as "opposites attract." Over the last century, research on the nature of human mating has generally found this not to be true when it comes to character and personality—people tend to like people similar to themselves. However, in a few unusual and specific domains, such as immune systems, it seems that humans prefer others who are unlike themselves (e.g., with an orthogonal immune system), since this will lead to a baby that has the best of both worlds.[13] In recent years, various human bonding theories have been developed, described in terms of attachments, ties, bonds, and affinities.
Some Western authorities disaggregate into two main components, the altruistic and the narcissistic. This view is represented in the works of Scott Peck, whose work in the field of applied psychology explored the definitions of love and evil. Peck maintains that love is a combination of the "concern for the spiritual growth of another," and simple narcissism.[14] In combination, love is an activity, not simply a feeling.

Comparison of scientific models
Biological models of love tend to see it as a mammalian drive, similar to hunger or thirst.[8] Psychology sees love as more of a social and cultural phenomenon. There are probably elements of truth in both views. Certainly love is influenced by hormones (such as oxytocin), neurotrophins (such as NGF), and pheromones, and how people think and behave in love is influenced by their conceptions of love. The conventional view in biology is that there are two major drives in love: sexual attraction and attachment. Attachment between adults is presumed to work on the same principles that lead an infant to become attached to its mother. The traditional psychological view sees love as being a combination of companionate love and passionate love. Passionate love is intense longing, and is often accompanied by physiological arousal (shortness of breath, rapid heart rate); companionate love is affection and a feeling of intimacy not accompanied by physiological arousal.
Studies have shown that brain scans of those infatuated by love display a resemblance to those with a mental illness. Love creates activity in the same area of the brain where hunger, thirst, and drug cravings create activity. New love, therefore, could possibly be more physical than emotional. Over time, this reaction to love mellows, and different areas of the brain are activated, primarily ones involving long-term commitments.
 

Desenvolvido por EMPORIUM DIGITAL