In romantic love, a bouquet, jewelry, and words represent how one partner feels about the other. It’s as if love is infused in the object. With familial love, the meaning tends to fall on the quantity of attention, rather than the quality of it. If a parent pays more attention to a needier child, then the sibling may interpret that as being unloved and unlovable. When it comes to humanity, this type of love is unfortunately measured by conformity to narrowly defined standards of being. And self-love is oft aligned with and measured by the objects, attention, and approval one receives from others.
When I think of love, I think of a state of being; existence. Love is like air…in it, surrounded by it, taking it in at all times.