Love. It’s a word used everyday. It may be thought of as a more personal and instinctive idea, but it has depth and a backstory that unveils how it is perceived today. Through culture, science and personal experience and belief what we know as “love” can be shown and defined many different ways.

All around the world and throughout history, people have fallen in love in many different ways, all having contrasting ideas of arranging relationships, always relying on how and what different societies believed in.

“When it comes to love, biologically we do see hormones and neurotransmitters really playing a part. The two biggest ones we see are dopamine, which is a reward chemical it makes you feel good, and serotonin, which can be a calming chemical. So when those two combine and are working together, we definitely see people falling in love, ” psychology and sociology teacher Katie Harris said.

To get a better perspective on what love really means, students and staff at timberland answered what they believed it means.

“I would say love is a very strong feeling for someone or something, but I see in our society today it is ultimately overused,” junior Trevor Letiz said.

It wasn’t until a few centuries ago when marriage was not thought of as anything more than a union for land, money and power. Arranged marriages were extremely common for the upper hierarchy or leaders like Kings and Queens, to secure rights to land and property, producing children in order to length bloodline and have heirs to their wealth. Many countries today still have arranged marriages for tradition, social status and wealth between families. Even with an extend background and history, a biological component also has a part play.

“It’s just hard to explain sometimes, but it’s about caring for and wanting to do things with and for people around you,” science teacher Nathan Harmon said.

Love is ultimately a feeling someone has for someone or something and does not necessarily have to be romantic, friendships and the care we have for our pets for example.

“For animals, the affection your seeing with them is, a lot of the times down to mating and survival purposes, that a lot of the times were there affection might be coming from,” Harris said.

Humans and animals alike may love differently, but does not mean it isn’t there.

“I see love in places where people show kindness,” junior Abi Moore said.

There it is: the meaning of love according to students at Timberland. Many more aspects are involved and if you wish to learn more about it, consider researching the history and literature in school library and online.

“It’s hard to show, but if it’s shown, they’ll know when you show it back, they love you as much as you love them,” Sheldon Wright said.