What is love?

That night.  Nothing in particular.  Nothing specific.  No tears.  No anger.  No fear.  No fever.  No nothing.  Just a wandering mind and a desire for sleep.

That night I opened my mind to my own experiment:

What is love?

Love is caring for someone without expecting anything in return.  Then what is caring for someone?  Caring for someone is offering support and connecting your talents, skills, talents, and resources to help someone.  So can one love without caring?  What about showing love without truly caring for the other?  I believe that there can be care without love because care can be incomplete.  One can demonstrate particular aspects of a caring relationship without demonstrating a full commitment.  One can care for someone else but ultimately have a greater interest in someone or something else.

Loving without caring however seems less likely.  To love another is to abandon oneself.  Love is reckless abandon with purpose.  It may appear oxymoronic but love doesn't always make sense.  Is unconditional love even possible in the human experience?  How can one love without conditions, ulterior motives, or even the smallest inkling of selfish ambition?

If we define things, does it help us all to better understand them?  Or do we have to have a mutual understanding in order to understand each other more fully?  What about understanding leads to growth?  Is it the growing from our mistakes or the no longer making them that shows growth?  Or perhaps it's something else...