Lessons in love or something like that....

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine recently who is in a pickle so to speak....she has been in a relationship for about two years (to my knowledge) and recently has started having feelings for a co worker, who coincidentally is in a relationship and may have feelings for her. She asked me for my thoughts and I told her from my limited knowledge...that she should be honest with herself. Of course I feel like I didn't really help her much, but we talked about what it means to be honest with yourself in a situation where other parties are involved, and what you need to do for yourself...

So after having thought about about it, and all of my past what-cha-ma-call its (and luckily without being too bitter!:-P!), I wonder exactly what is this concept of love we always find ourselves talking about. Is it really that bubbly feeling we say it is when we see that "somebody"? Or is it a kind of 'craziness' that gradually takes over where you forget a little bit of who you were from the start, and just don't want to be or feel alone? Or is it really political- like you make a statement about what you do and who you do it with, and what you believe in? Sometimes I think it's an amalgam of all three, and then some. Like we are trying to make a statement to ourselves and everyone else we know about ourselves, our partner, etc., like "hey...I got me somebody who is x, y, and z". Sometimes it's not as political as it seems, sometimes it is. Lately I've been finding myself somewhere along those lines. By this I mean that when I "love", it is about that half-empty feeling you get when you are sprung for somebody...but at the same time for me it's about being a bit true to who I am and to my politics, which is understandable in terms of my politics on being black, queer, and female. Cause for me, all of those are identities for me have different forms of love, and so I guess I'm just trying to figure out how to make all of them work. Even if they don't seem like they do. For me, love is the political, it's all how you look at it...