Love

Love is a concept that I have always struggled with.  I'm exploring relationships (finally) and the concept of love is no less confusing for me.  I find love is an open concept, but that is not what I observe in others.

I have observed that people on say "I love you" if it's a significant other or a family member.  I have always found that there are so many different kinds of love, not just romantic love

.  I say "I love you" to my best friend and I feel things for my companion, but I wouldn't characterize it as being in love.  I do care for him deeply, which might be a form of love.  However, with my male friends, I can't say I love them because they have girlfriends and they only say the word love to them.

I'm not sure how to fix that.  Maybe it's a cultural thing or perhaps it's a comfort level because relationships have different degrees of closeness.  However, love is, to me, one of the foundations of healthy relationships, doesn't matter what title you give it.  I want to be able to tell the people that I love, that I love them and not feel like I'll be rebuffed for using that word.

We all know the feelings we have towards and for others.  I wish that we could actually express them and not be judged for them.  Perhaps that will happen one day.