o me, love, in the sense that it is most widely used, actually means "prefer". So when you say, "I love you", most of the time, you are actually saying, "I prefer you". And this is a misuse of the word, "love" and is not love at all.
What I think love is is more closely related to what we call, "respect". And not respect in the controlling sense of the word, not the kind people say has to be earned (which i think is bulls***), but the kind of respect that is freely given. Respect for freedom of expression in living things. I think that is more closely what love is than the love we have defined as desire.