Love Lounge: Loving someone vs. being in love

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We've talked about the fine intricacies of love vs. lust before, but since I'm pretty obsessed with words and the great power behind their meaning, let's look at two more common themes today, shall we, friends?

Loving someone

Being in love.

They're quite common, aren't they? After all, they've been uttered since the dawning of time (well, maybe not by cave people, but you get the idea here...) as a way to put into words what people were feeling in their hearts. Sometimes, it seems, people even use said phrases interchangeably, as if they mean the same thing.

But do they? The more I think about it -- and maybe I'm thinking too much about it -- the more I can't help but think they are two different things altogether. I picture being in love as that lusty phase of a relationship -- the early days when you've got stars in your eyes and are delirious by the mere mention of the other person's name. And then I picture loving someone as the next natural step. Maybe loving someone is the only way to get to any sort of love affair that lasts once those stars don't burn as bright as they used to. Maybe being in love is like that first layer of shaky foundation when you're building a house, and loving someone are like the support beams that will hold it together forever.

What do you think, friends? Have you thought about the differences between the two? Do they even mean different things to you? Have you experienced both before? One more than the other? Let's chat! xoxo

[Photos via Le Love]