If you’ve ever watched sitcoms, romantic comedies or literally any television show, then you must be familiar with the dreaded “I love you” scene. It’s a classic moment in nearly every cinematic piece of art. Those three words, however, have given rise to a popular sentiment—that “I love you” is a scary thing to say and to hear. It’s time for a quick vent.
Love is a powerful emotion, but it can also be a very fragile emotion. Love can be expressed with excitement and extravagance but more often it’s expressed subtly in our day-to-day interactions with others. From a good morning kiss to remembering what your partner’s favorite drink is, it’s the little things that count. Our point is, love is flexible and pervades every aspect of our lives whether we’re aware of it or not. On TV, love is often portrayed as a frightening endeavor with euphoric highs and dangerous lows. These harsh polarities have given the phrase “I love you” a troublingly deep significance.
When someone tells you they love you, it may seem like a pretty big deal! Their eyes and heart are set on you and nobody else, which can definitely make you feel all fuzzy inside. When those words spill from their mouth, you stop and stare, as if you’ve heard something unbelievable. But isn’t that how the media wants us to feel? Overhyping the phrase “I love you” has caused us to overanalyze such a simple string of words. “I love you” has become synonymous with “I expect you to love me back”, “All of me is devoted to making you happy” and notoriously, “Will you marry me?” There is too much baggage.
Related: Why Having An SO Doesn’t (& Shouldn’t) Take Away Your Freedom
We should feel more open to saying “I love you” to whomever we want, even if the relationship isn’t serious! Some may argue that telling everyone you love them takes away from the significance of the phrase. Here’s the thing: love isn’t a store that can be depleted. Saying “I love you” to your partner shouldn’t elicit a fight or flight response, which is exactly how it’s depicted in the media. We must strip away the extreme connotations that come with the phrase because they’re unnecessary!
This can be a strange thing for us to adopt because it’s been engrained in our psyches that “I love you” is the most robust, most daunting expression of love. It doesn’t have to be if we don’t want it to. If we prescribed so much meaning into it, then we can remove some of the extreme interpretations it often carries, too.
Try telling your partner that you love them — if you feel comfortable doing so — and observe their reaction. Feel free to share our sentiments with them, as well. With that, we love you!