What does love feel like? Love can cause you to feel many different emotions; sometimes, those emotions conflict, and sometimes you feel those conflicting emotions simultaneously. If you think about the interactions you’ve had with your loved ones, you’ll find some prime examples of when you’ve concurrently been angry and amused with them or even contented mixed with concern during a difficult time. Feelings that come with love are also intensely strong. This is when you’ll feel your happiest happy emotions, your strongest desire, and sometimes even the saddest of sad feelings. So the best answer overall for what does love feel like is that it feels complex and occasionally confusing but also euphoric and fulfilling.
What does love feel like? Love feels different depending on the type of love you are experiencing. The love you feel for your family is reinforced by years of familiarity and usually proximity, forming a sturdy foundation that can weather any storm. This is the baseline for love as we know it, formed in early childhood and carried throughout our lifetimes. What does love feel like for your family? It feels solid, vital, and is integral to who we are.
What does love feel like when it is love for your friends? A little newer and a bit fresher, this love can be just as strong as love for your family but is often a bit more delicate. It requires some diligent work to keep it going. It isn’t as fully developed as the love you feel for your family, so you have to give it thought and make a bit more effort with this type. But there is a feeling of comfort and reliance within love for friends.
What does love feel like when you’ve fallen in love with someone? Being in love with someone, possibly the someone, involves a much more complex spectrum of feelings than any other type of love.
Phases of Love
What does love feel like when you fall in love? The process of falling in and being in love with someone can be categorized into three major phases, each with a distinct set of characteristics that cause different reactions within our bodies and our minds.
What Does Love Feel Like While Falling In Love?
What does love feel like when you’re first falling in love? In the beginning, love can feel like the most breathtaking chaos you’ll ever experience. This phase is often described as the lustful phase. Some scientists claim this stage is driven by our innate need to mate, mainly for reasons of procreation. That means this phase is rife with strong physical reactions, most of which are measurable in our hormone levels. When you meet someone you are attracted to, the hormones associated with sexual desire become elevated. What does love feel like at the start of sexual attraction? Dopamine released during attraction can cause estrogen and testosterone production to increase, depending on your sex. These drive us to feel intense sexual attraction to the other person.
There is also a feeling of nervousness that comes with this phase. You may feel unsure if the person you are attracted to feels attracted to you. You may worry that you aren’t their type, or even that they aren’t your type despite your intense physical attraction for them. There can be a lot of emotional chaos and doubt plaguing you during this time.
Sometimes this is as far as it goes. Either you act on the desire and then realize for any number of reasons that this is not the person for you and move on, or perhaps you are overwhelmed by the worry and fear, so you never take the first step. But, if you and they are in the right place, this phase can lead to the next and most intense phase of being in love, which is the passionate love phase.
What Does Love Feel Like During Passionate Love?
What does love feel like when you’re in passionate love? This is when the feelings become intense and all-consuming; the phase that books, songs, and movies are written about. This is the romantic, passion-filled phase where your entire being is consumed by the person you are falling in love with. You’ll find your mind clouded; your appetite might become suppressed and often sleep elusive. You’ll find yourself thinking about the other person when you should have your mind on other things. Your performance at work or school may suffer, and your relationships with other people might also take a bit of a beating. But the euphoria you feel when your love is requited makes it all worthwhile.
What does love feel like in this phase? Just as there are chemical reactions in our bodies to support what it feels like while falling in love, there are even more chemical changes that we can measure to explain the changes in our bodies and minds while we are passionately in love with our partner. Neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and phenylethylamine are released into your system during intense attraction. These neurotransmitters are associated with changes in eating, sleeping, and alertness patterns. So yes, there are scientific reasons for the euphoric, distracted, off-kilter feelings you feel during the passionate love stage.
Dopamine is also elevated during this phase, though the data is a bit murkier as to whether it is at the same level as during the first, more lustful stage. So, what does love feel like during this time? You’ll still feel highly attracted to your partner, but you’ll also start feeling more complex emotions like a desire to always see them, even without sexual activity. You’ll become hyper-aware of their actions and what makes them happy, and you’ll want to get that rush of joy you feel when you make them smile.
What does love feel like in this stage? This is the stage of love where long-term bonds begin to form. You’ll start to plan for the future more than you’ll dwell in the past. When you find yourself thinking about where you and your partner will be and what you’ll be doing next year or even several years down the road, and you can’t wait to discuss these ideas with your partner, you can be assured that the love bug has bitten. You and your partner will start caring more about the other person’s happiness than your own. You’ll get unparalleled pleasure from seeing your partner being happy, and any time they are hurt or upset, you will feel hurt and upset with them.
You will begin to miss your partner when you’re apart. The chemical corticotrophin elevates when you are separated from someone you genuinely love. What does love feel like with corticotrophin? This chemical triggers sadness, anxiety, and depression. This reaction is harmful, so naturally, your body and mind will want to avoid this feeling. You’ll seek out more and more time with your partner to prevent corticotrophin production and the emotions that come with it.
What Does Love Feel Like During Long Term Love?
What does love feel like when you’ve been together for a long time? Generally speaking, it feels comfortable and safe. You’ve worked out the major kinks in your relationship. You’ve set boundaries and learned your partner’s boundaries. Usually, you have lived together for a while by this point, and you’ve probably tucked your partner into the nooks and crannies of your existence. You have someone to call upon any time you need help. You know your partner will help you when you need help the most, and hopefully will help you even when you need it the least simply because they can.
The focus shifts from strong physical reactions and intense feelings to a warm and calm feeling of contentment. Most people feel a strong sense of security and feel like they are coasting along in life when they reach this stage with their partner. Mutual respect and compassion for your partner become increasingly more important than passion, but physical desire will still be present.
What does love feel like once you’ve reached this stage of comfort and security? The profound knowledge and intimacy you have for your partner while in long-term love allows you to enjoy or even seek out being vulnerable with them. You’ll want to share the bad feelings as well as the good ones. You’ll want them to know that insanely embarrassing thing you did at work the other day because you’ll naturally expect them to turn it lighthearted and show you how it is more funny than mortifying. You’ll want them to tell you their innermost desires and share the dreams they’ve never shared with anyone else. Though there may be some good-natured teasing involved in a good solid relationship, neither of you will ever feel like telling your partner something is a bad idea. They will always make you feel like you’ve done the right thing when you’ve unburdened yourself to them by opening up and showing vulnerability.
What does love feel like when you are in it for the long haul? It feels like work and sacrifice with rewards more than worth the effort. Long-term love takes a fair amount of work to keep stable and healthy. Be sure you’re thinking of both yourself and your partner when you make decisions. You need to support them and their dreams, even if sometimes that means pushing off some of your wants until later. It helps if you are vigilant so that you don’t give too much without getting enough in return, as it should always be in balance with your partner. They should sacrifice for you just as you sacrifice for them. It can be a delicate balance, but it is possible if you pay attention and communicate. It will result in increased happiness and contentment within the relationship and improve relationships with other people in your life.
What does love feel like after so much time together? Once you’re maintaining a long-term love, you begin to relax. You will have easy confidence that your partner will simply always be there for you and with you. Because a lot of the fiery passion from the earlier phases has settled into comfort, you’ll feel relaxed enough to consciously seek ways to let your partner know you still love them madly. There are few greater feelings of joy in the world than the feeling that you are the most important person to someone else, and this is the stage where you both work to ensure that the feeling is mutual and frequent.
What Does Love Feel Like Versus Lust?
What does love feel like versus what it feels like to be in lust? Simply put, lust is all about the physical and generally only the physical, while love is about being emotionally engaged and invested in the other person as a whole and complex creature. Lust is an integral part of love but is only a tiny part of it. But since lust is such an essential part of being in love, how do you tell the difference?
If you don’t crave spending time with someone outside of sex, it is probably just lust. What does love feel like when it might just be lust? If you don’t eagerly await the recap on how their day has gone when you’ve been apart for a while, then you’re probably feeling lust instead of love. But if you’re comfortable being vulnerable with them, crave their company both inside and outside of the bedroom, and will almost always put their wellbeing above your own, then you’ve moved past the lustful stage and found true love.
What Does Love Feel Like When Unrequited
What does love feel like when it is unrequited? It hurts. Unrequited love can be a harrowing experience because you are experiencing all the hormonal and chemical shifts discussed before but getting none of the positive responses from the other person that make them all worthwhile.
Unrequited love is a universally common experience. We’ve all had times in our life where we felt an intense attraction to someone both physically and emotionally, but they didn’t reciprocate. It doesn’t necessarily reflect poorly on the other person as long as they handle your feelings delicately. But sometimes, they are oblivious and sometimes even callous. Some people will happily reap the benefits of having someone who is completely smitten with them without returning the feelings. They might even encourage it.
The most common type of unrequited love is simply feeling desire beyond the physical for someone unavailable to you. That might mean they are in love with someone else, or it could mean they don’t feel the same way about you. They might love you a lot but not be in love with you, which can complicate the situation a great deal. If you are in love with someone who loves you but is not in love with you, you might feel like you’re getting mixed signals from them. You might perceive some of their actions as reciprocation when, in actuality, they are just a good friend who genuinely likes being around you and is concerned for your happiness and well-being.
A good early sign that your love might be unrequited is if the person you are in love with is slow to get back to you and rarely or never reaches out to you first. If they care for you as a friend, they will eventually reply genuinely, but you won’t be the top priority in their life. They won’t feel that emotional connection with you that makes them want to put you first. If you find yourself falling in love with a close friend, this can be a bit more complicated as you will be a priority to them, so you might feel like you’re getting mixed signals from them. Sometimes they seem as interested in and dedicated to you as you are with them, but other times, you might not hear from them for days.
What does love feel like once you realize that it is unrequited? Once you recognize where you stand, you’ll need to make some decisions. Do you want to keep the friendship you have with the other person, or is it too painful for you to be near them without being a couple with them? The best thing you can do to answer this question is talk to the other person about your feelings. It will be a tough conversation but very worthwhile. What if they feel the same way about you but are just insecure and aren’t sure how to let you know? Alternately, they might confirm that they are not in love with you but that they value your friendship greatly, and then you’ll be able to form a plan for how to foster that friendship and stay a part of each other’s lives. Some solid friendships can be formed from potential romantic relationships if both people communicate and attempt to get past the attraction that isn’t shared.
The Importance of Love and Healthy Relationships
Love is an essential aspect of healthy relationships, and healthy relationships are vital to living a fulfilling life. We will form many relationships in our lives, from family bonds to intense physical connections and hopefully even long-term love. Having someone in your life that you can depend on and who depends on you can provide a level of contentment that you cannot get from casual dalliances or even from regular friendship.
Human nature drives us to want to feel connected to other humans. What does love feel like once you’ve made a genuine connection to another person? Opening your heart and mind to another person can be one of the most fulfilling choices you make. Having another person’s happiness and well-being become essential in your life brings a feeling of joy and contentment that cannot be found outside of healthy loving relationships.
Healthy relationships are shown to reduce the risk of depression and even increase our happiness rate. A positive relationship with your partner is shown to boost self-esteem and confidence. And it can even improve cardiovascular health.
What does love feel like when you let go and let yourself fall? It can be a tremendous risk to let yourself fall in love and even more of a chance to act on that feeling. Letting someone know you’re falling in love is by far one of the most frightening things you’ll do in your life, but the potential rewards far outweigh the risks.
What does love feel like in a healthy relationship? If you open yourself up to someone, accept them for who they are, and work hard to keep your relationship healthy, love can feel more rewarding and more fulfilling than any career, hobby, or tangible item you will ever have. Love is worth putting in the effort and taking risks because bonding yourself to someone as you do in long-term love makes all of life’s challenges seem manageable. Stressful parts of life will be less stressful, and joyful parts will be all the more joyous for having someone right by your side slogging through the mess or cheering for you while you succeed.
