"What's love got to do with it", or "To all the girls I've loved before"

A woman friend recently confided in me that she had been in love with someone "who didn't love himself" and concluded, "So how could he love me?"

 What the heck are we talking about here, anyway?

The ancient Greeks broke "love" down into four catagories.
Agape. This is the sort of unconditional bond between a parent and child.
Phileo, the relational bond between friends.
Storge, the expression of affection, and
Eros, being the fulfillment of sexual desire.

We have expanded that to... I don't know... it's ridiculous. It's like the "F" word. you can use it pretty much anywhere in a sentence, although the meaning is not always clear, but rarely is it used in the original sense.  We throw love around in conversation as though we're all thinking of the same definition.

Let's keep it simple shall we? I offer the following:

Love, as commonly used in American English, either refers to that parent child thing above, or, the commitment or agreement which bonds two people. (which is, unfortunatley, usually unspoken)

My friend's statement above would more acuratley be put this way; "The man that I desire to have an intimate relationship with is difficult to be with due to his  lack of self esteem."

Gee, when you put that way, is seems much less dramatic.

So keep it simple, can the drama, call it what it is, and keep on smiling.
And know that I love you.(added for dramatic effect)

Peace,
       George