Love

I've been pondering love lately (given my current situation I guess).  How is it that some feel love so strongly and yet others don't feel?  What makes people fall in love and what makes them "fall out of love"?
I can say I have loved and felt loved in my life.  Not just by Lars, but I have loved others and been loved by others.  I am aware that some people are able to feel and give love on a deeper level than others, what causes this?   I will say I am glad I am open to giving and receiving love, I cannot imagine what a dark place it is to not have love.
 I know unconditional love, because of my children, I have had passionate love, familial love, and goodness I loved my great dane so much when she died I was heart broken.  But I know this is not the same for all people.  I "love" theories on love.  Here is one that I read in Wikipedia, I had read it before in one of my psychology text but from a scientific standpoint it makes sense (I would venture to say science and culture both play a role in love).  What if a person is chemically unbalanced, could it cause them to feel and view love differently?  I think perhaps!


Chemical basisMain article: Chemical basis for love


Simplified overview of the chemical basis of love.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.[11]

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.[11] 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.[12] - Wikipedia

Something to ponder....