“I love you most, Rapunzel.” As my family and I watched a beautiful live reenactment of Disney’s Tangled at a local theatre a few days ago, I couldn’t help think about the true meaning of “love.” Is it just a human construct? Beyond the scope of Disney fairytales, is there such a thing as “true love”? With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought it would be a good time to share a few thoughts 🙂
Psychologists and psychiatrists across the ages agree that “love” is a basic human need. Maslow placed “love and belonging” on his famous “hierarchy of needs.” A study done of newborn babies found that babies given all the basic physical nutritional and safety needs, but not given love, eventually died. Love seems to be an intrinsic human need and not just a want.