I've thought about this myself and I don't quite know. I'm a little surprised that the vast majority of responses have to do with romantic love - something that I haven't experienced as of yet. I would say that I love a number of my friends and family, but the emotional connection seems distinct from the romantic love of a significant other.

A lot of these descriptions are so romantic and idealistic to me, even exaggerated - but I want to emphasize the to me. I honestly wish I felt this way about people, right now I just don't. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, or if it's something that can be good or bad, but it's just who I am at this moment and I'd like to believe that other people experience romantic love similarly, which is to say a lesser scale than described so wonderfully by people here.

As for non-romantic love, I like to think that I derive happiness from their happiness, that there is a mutual concern for each other's wellbeing, that there exists some type of spoken or unspoken kinship. Perhaps that isn't so much the feeling of "being in love," so much as it is a list of true statements that describes people I love. As for how I feel around these people, a combination of relaxed and connectedness that doesn't exist with strangers - that some invisible wall that we put up in front of others is taken away.