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I Love You

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I notice occasions when I don’t want to say those three little words - I Love you - despite all that I teach and coach around.

Someone may say it in a comment, ‘I love you, Phil!’ and I have some reluctance to respond in the same way, instead opting for some other safer version:
‘Love you too, brother’ just so you’re sure this is a brotherly love thing…
‘Loving you’ which some suggest is more accurate to what we ‘do’ but for me still doesn’t feel as intimate as the simple ILY.
‘Much love’ and ‘sending you loads of love’ are my most common half-assed cop-outs from simple human intimacy.
If someone asks me to sign a book, (which always amuses me,) I’ll often sign ‘love always’. I like this, it has so many meanings...
To some of my close friends, maybe an ‘I love yoouuuuuu!’ just to string it out and add some distracting humour.

Any of this sound familiar to you? :)

I don’t have this reluctance going on all the time, of course, it may be there’s some ‘romantic love’ interest thing going on, I want to avoid confusion, or just generally listening to some other insecurity. But always, ALWAYS, in some way distracted from the purity and simplicity of love.

There are times when I don’t take any notice at all of any of that thinking, and I’m throwing this ‘I love you’ thing around like glitter at a unicorn party. 🦄🦄

Catching this reluctance reminds me to slow down and take a look at what’s going on. Discomfort is great for that - reminding me I am believing something that is unlikely to be true. Reminding me I am overthinking and entertaining fears.

There are few sentences as simple and true as ‘I love you.’ It is only ever our insecurities and confusion that have us either withhold it, or add more meaning to it. And when we strip away all that noise, love is always there, every time, between everyone.

It looks to me that us humans are excellent at loving each other, just a bit crap at expressing it, or indeed confusing it with something else.

So just for clarity, if you’re reading this, I love you. ❤️

I can’t not do that, despite what my fears try and tell me.
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