Love Epiphany

Has anyone ever experienced love? Not the love of a 'loved one', but the love of a 'lover'? James Joyce talks about the overwhelming experience of falling in love (or falling in lust). More importantly, he talks about one of the most painful kinds of 'epiphany' a person can have; the realization of unrequited love. In definition, unrequited love is love that is not openly reciprocated, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections. 'Araby' in James Joyce's 'Dubliners' discusses this theme at length (or not so much, as the story is only 5 pages long). Still, his portrayal of the narrators love for Mangans sister is heart breaking in a way. For the narrator, his life in Ireland is frustrating. The mundane 'comings' and 'goings' seem impossibly boring, until he has an epiphanic moment in which he experiences the feelings of infatuation and admiration. His unreciprocated love affair with a woman he barely knows, much less talks to, is an incredibly common theme in literature, art, poetry, and real life alike.
He comes into this experience thinking a love has actually blossomed between him and the woman, and at the end of the story is angered and embarrassed by his own vanity (at least I think that's what Joyce is trying to tell me).
I don't know if anyone else has ever experienced unrequited love before, but quote frankly, it is AWFUL. A character in one of the most adorable (not prominent, but adorable) movies ever made once said, '[What could be] worse than the total agony of being in love?'. I think this question is quite appropriate. The only thing worse than the total agony of being in love is the total agony of unrequited love. The narrator finds himself staring at her longingly from windows, memorizing small things about her, and thinking about her every second of his day. It consumes him totally. At once, the narrator in Joyce's story finds himself in this state:
'I was not beginning to idle. I could not call my wandering thoughts together. I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to be child's play, ugly monotonous child's play'
(17).
Some other quotes from Joyce's work highlights the narrators agony and ecstasy.

'I had never spoken to her, except a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood' (16).

'I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not or, if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration. But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires' (16).

Love seriously scorches the senses. Often times, when someone has such a moment of epiphany and realizes they are in love (or what they think is love), the person can literally lose all realm of intelligent, logical thought. People in love can be amorous idiots... I can say so because I have been there myself. In my opinion, a 'love epiphany' is unlike any other, though probably one of the most agonizing of the experiences a person can have. Don't misunderstand me... I believe in love. And I love to believe in love. And I love the IDEA of being in love, but unrequited love is just painful. I guess, however painful they are, I have to love the agonizing aspects of it is well, because where would love be without heartbreak?