According to Barbara Fredrickson, a leading scholar in the field of social psychology and affective science, we have a tendency to think about love in abstract terms. In this clip from her Networker Symposium keynote, she makes the case for broadening our perspective of what love means on both a physical and emotional level.

By Barbara Fredrickson - At work, you and your teammates celebrate a shared triumph with hugs and high fives. On your morning jog, you smile and nod to greet fellow runners and silently wish them a good day. After a trip that’s kept you apart for too many days, you share a long embrace with a family member. Can these everyday moments be called love? What exactly is love?

As members of a culture infatuated with the idea of a deathless, delirious love, most of us have been trained to think that one of life’s primary goals is to find that certain someone, that one-and-only soul mate. But Barbara Fredrickson—a leading scholar and researcher in the fields of social psychology, affective science, and positive psychology—challenges this pie-eyed view of love in her new book, Love 2.0. Rather than simply debunking a daydream, her research brings us news that’s really revolutionary: as far as the impact on our bodies and our health is concerned, love is literally any positive connection between two or more people at any time. Here’s an excerpt from Barbara’s keynote at the 2014 Networker Symposium.

First and foremost, love is an emotion, a momentary state that arises to infuse your mind and body alike. Love, like all emotions, surfaces like a distinct and fast-moving weather pattern, a subtle and ever-shifting force.

More than any other positive emotion, love resides within connections. It extends beyond personal boundaries to characterize the vibe that pulsates between and among people. It can even energize whole social networks or inspire a crowd to get up and dance.