A quote from Love Actually came to me while i was reading the previous posts. This 11 year old boy is sitting with his step-dad somewhere close to the river in London, and his step-dad asks him what the matter is, fearing the worst. So when the boy tells him that he's in love, the step-dad starts giggling, telling him 'oh, i thought it was something much worse'. The boy's reply was "Worse? Worse than the total agony of being in love?"

Perhaps it's some kind of masochism [well, another kind of masochism] for me to be looking for love even though the feeling isn't fuzzy or sweet or anything nice, because reciprocation is missing. But that's romantic love, which I presume is what we're talking about here.
I've fallen in love with boys, I've fallen in love with guys, I've fallen in love with men, I have occassionally fallen in love with girls, but what i got back, at most, was affection. And i'm not complaining, affection is good--but not always enough.
I understand --and see it, in how i act-- that loving somebody does not depend on whether they love you back [but whether that is good or bad i do not know]. I also don't know whether it would be easier to only love somebody when the feelings are mutual, but I'm guessing that in hypothetical-land that would be exceptional.
However, because of the lack of reciprocation when it comes to feelings, I have come to understand that you either love somebody for completely selfish reasons, because YOU need/want to give something to them or, accordingly, for altruistic reasons, because THEY need/want something and you feel you should give it to them if you can.
I don't think i could apply the love i've felt [in a romantic context] in any of Jeanne's categories other than the second number 2 [lol]. It never made me feel good, it most often made me feel bad, but still, i couldn't change my emotions.
sorry if i rambled on, love's a bitch.