L is for Love

Some days, so far, I've immediately come up with a topic for the letter of the day on the A to Z blogging challenge. Other days, not.

Today is one of my good days. (At least from my perspective!) Check out my personal blog for another "L" blog post.

LOVE tends to be a theme I write about a lot in my fiction, even my mysteries. It's also a theme in a lot of the books I read, even mysteries and crime fiction:

• Who loves who,
• Who doesn't love who,
• How people and pets love each other,
• Why one person loves another person,
• How a lack of love makes people behave,
• How an overabundance of love makes people behave,
• How people kid themselves into believing they don't want, or need love,
• How people think they can't live without love,
• How people manage to live without, or after the loss of, love,
• What motivates people to do all manner of things in the name of love.

Why is love so darned important to us?

• Do we feel more valuable, or important, if someone loves us?
• Do we measure our worth based on who loves us?
• Is receiving "bad" love better than receiving no love at all?
• Why is romantic love viewed by so many people as being the ultimate in love--i.e., more "important" than the love of, let's say, our dogs?

If Love is so wonderful, how come the most painful hurts we experience are because of our Love for others?

I guess I don't have many answers. Do you?