Thalassa
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- May 3, 2009
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Very, very well said.
thank you
I STILL CANT SEND REPS ON MOST POSTS :steam:
Very, very well said.
You seem to mainly be asking the difference between love and infatuation. Are you currently in a relationship and you are trying to discern the difference?
For romance, it almost always starts with a phase of infatuation. I believe the typical length of time is 2 years. You feel giddy euphoria with the person.
If you are concerned about whether you are only infatuated, and not in love, I wouldn't worry about the feelings in particular. You probably want to focus more on whether the relationship is healthy and whether the person you are with is a normal healthy person. Infatuations are dangerous when they lead us into relationships that are not good for us. But when they exist at the beginning of a love relationship with someone who is healthy, they are very normal and a good way to enhance bonding.
I recently had an experience that I was trying to make sense of - it was different than anything I've ever experienced before. I thought that I had experienced love before, but never like this. I think that the most significant part of the experience is feeling my heart truly open up for the first time - I really felt my heart expand in a way that felt receptive. It gave me a sense of relief and comfort. Other bodily sensations: heart beating fast, intoxicated feeling, head rushes, and let's just say - other sensations.
Again, I've been in love before (or thought I was), but I never felt this way. I am just curious to see if others have had similar (or different) bodily experiences connected with love. Also, do our bodily experiences or feelings ever deceive us? Does love feel different depending on the relationship? Why?
Yeah. I think I get the difference. But, still, it's tricky. Where does infatuation end and love begin? I guess it is related to the degree of intimacy the couple achieve. The love will either grow or fade away.When you feel in your heart that this is something different: it is. I would say, trust that. As to bodily experiences, if you feel something extraordinary, your body will tell you. If someone loves you, if it's right, it won't fade away. Circumstances and timing play a part, but we don't have control over these, for the most part. Feelings are always there to inform you, to tell you something you need to know. If you can look at it that way and not as something to distrust, perhaps that might help.
Love is like experiencing the highest version of yourself.
I recently had an experience that I was trying to make sense of - it was different than anything I've ever experienced before. I thought that I had experienced love before, but never like this. I think that the most significant part of the experience is feeling my heart truly open up for the first time - I really felt my heart expand in a way that felt receptive. It gave me a sense of relief and comfort. Other bodily sensations: heart beating fast, intoxicated feeling, head rushes, and let's just say - other sensations.
Again, I've been in love before (or thought I was), but I never felt this way. I am just curious to see if others have had similar (or different) bodily experiences connected with love. Also, do our bodily experiences or feelings ever deceive us? Does love feel different depending on the relationship? Why?
Yeah. I think I get the difference. But, still, it's tricky. Where does infatuation end and love begin? I guess it is related to the degree of intimacy the couple achieve. The love will either grow or fade away.
When you feel in your heart that this is something different: it is. I would say, trust that. As to bodily experiences, if you feel something extraordinary, your body will tell you. If someone loves you, if it's right, it won't fade away. Circumstances and timing play a part, but we don't have control over these, for the most part. Feelings are always there to inform you, to tell you something you need to know. If you can look at it that way and not as something to distrust, perhaps that might help.
Love feels more like a bond of deep friendship that goes beyond words.
It feels like a presence within me - like a separate entity, almost. I'd say the feeling is closest to one of intense Caring - really caring for the person and who they are, and rejoicing in the fact that they're alive and that they are who they are. Really valuing them and wanting them to be happy and wanting the best for them. In other words.. it has little to do with me and our relationship/dynamic, in those quiet moments. The relationship itself - the two of us together - is certainly important too, and obviously the other invokes feelings in me and fulfills my own needs and such - but this presence, what I call love within myself - is solely about who they are as a person. Take me out of the picture and I'd still care for them just as much, and want them to be happy.
Infatuation and love feel physically very differently to me. Infatuation can develop to be love but it doesn't have to.
When I'm infatuated, I'll mostly be nervous, it's about anticipation. That's what makes me feel butterflies in my stomach, I can't sleep (literally), my legs feel weak, etc.
For love, the physical sensations are way more subtle, and I would even say this can be different depending on the person I'm with. It's really quite abstract and difficult to explain... I feel calm. I feel like everything I usually worry about is not that important. I feel more present, in the here and now. I feel warm, sometimes my heart feels warm. My ego is less important... I truly care about the other person's happiness more than about anything else. I feel like I'm transcending from my single me, being at the same time "truly me" and "the best me I can be". So yes, also that sense of calm, comfort and open/warm heart. Also, I'm less fearful.
Sometimes I also realize I love someone when something bad happens in the relationship - such as an argument. Realizing that there is a conflict, taking a step back, distancing myself (not a natural thing for me!) and then still feeling a strong sense of connection and wish to compromise. Doing things that are hard and unnatural for me (such as giving tons of space) and still feeling connection... I had an experience like that a couple of weeks ago and it freaked me out.
Obviously, these feelings aren't there 100% of the time, but come and go and alternate.
[YOUTUBE="qM-gZintWDc"]Good Will Hunting[/YOUTUBE]
There is a fairly good description in this scene.