what to do with EROS?

"I love you"

what does this proposition mean? very little if at all --methinks. the proposition comes to us reified & depleted. its normativity in shambles:

here, 
here, 
here
here,
here, 

let's use new words: EROS, Agape, Philia, Storge,  

forget about one thing fits-all, that's ludicrous. let's be naturalists here. LOVE is an human emotion: a visceral, conscious reaction to an external stimulus. it serves a purpose, it brings us closer to OTHERness.

only that there are different "love-notes" for different given referents:

my parents and immediate family? they elicit storge. my friends? philia. my girlfriend? eros.
my mentors and role models? agape.

the picture is rich and complex.

now, i want to address EROS (because you're in the middle of it). EROS is lust, boundless desire for the flesh, a raw emotion which Nietzsche calls Bejahung ("life affirming").

If someone penetrated the depths of EROS, it was French poet Charles Baudelaire. in fact, he redefined EROS for fin-de-siècle european culture. here's a little taste from his Flowers of Evil:

Si le viol, le poison, le poignard, l'incendie, 
N'ont pas encore brodé de leurs plaisants dessins 
Le canevas banal de nos piteux destins, 
C'est que notre âme, hélas! n'est pas assez hardie.

(If rape, poison, dagger and fire,
Have still not embroidered their pleasant designs
On the banal canvas of our pitiable destinies,
It's because our soul, alas, is not bold enough!)

Baudelaire goes against the norms of political correctness of his time. This is a force as unbounded & self-destructive akin to the Freudian Todestrieb.

the problem of love is how to bring it under control (particularly these days of self-centered banality, with social media driving the narratives).

the key is not ever to repress EROS (you'll pay dearly if you do that), but to educate it. each one of us deserves to plunge in EROS' turbulent waters, at least once. How do you educate this riptide? By transforming sexual desire into a productive force.

Give yourself time to experiment. Explore relationships and learn the lessons. See how the sex drive can -at times- drain you or, on the other hand, make you sharp and resilient. for sure, you'll make mistakes, you'll break relationships, you'll suffer, but you'll grow.

it's possible to have pleasure and still respect persons. do not trade with persons. be fair with your lovers and be as honest as you can.

don't worry, Aphrodite will protect you.