Love Is A Mythological Creature

[Deleted member 1860]

Someone said to me today the old line of "you have to love yourself before others can love you". I understand what that means now. It doesn't mean that noone will love you until you love yourself - just that you can't feel it or accept it. The answer is not out there, as with everything to do with PTSD, it is in yourself.

Thank you so much for this! I realize that perhaps I just can't accept love at this point. Maybe it is still too scary? Maybe I would feel too vulnerable?

I think love does exist, and that you're probably already feeling it. But all the images of film, tv, magazines etc, love is a thing that is entirely conditional. It's sold as the elixir of life, the happy ever after that we all must believe in and will only be happy when we find it. That image of love is a mythology.

I think you're right. This reminds me of something that a friend once told me. That love means different things to different people. Perhaps because I've never felt this romanticized form of love, that I somehow feel that I'm not loved at all? Gotta love the effects of Hollywood...

 

[Helliepig]

I read somewhere about "romantic love" versus "stirring the oatmeal" kind of love - ie the daily, ordinary, caring supporting unflashy love that is really what we need. That's where I want to be headed

 

[Tinyflame]

Genuine-

 

[Sterre]

Oh my, love...
I dont know about romantic love anymore. I do feel love ( or what I believe love is), I feel love for my daughter, and that seems to be all I can live up to as it comes down to feeling love.

Although I used to get involved in romantic relationships every now and then, it seems very distant and empty right now. I cannot imagine me romanticly loving someone again, it seems like a foreign concept.

I dont feel the need to love someone, or to get involved in a romantic relationship, it just seems like a lot of hassle right now.
I just forgot how it used to feel to be loved ( but I doubt if I ever felt loved) or to feel love for someone else than my daughter, and my dogs.
I dont understand how people manage romantic relationships, I never did understand.