12/09/2026
To be loved is to be seen.
It's someone knowing the little things about you that no one else would care to remember. They know what kind of mood you're in just by the way you say hello. They know the story you've told 100,000 times, and still, they'll let you tell it again. They remember something you said six months ago that not even you can remember.
And I think that's what makes love so beautiful. It's attention. Because anybody can buy you flowers, anybody can say 'you are attractive' or 'I love you,' but there's something different about someone paying enough attention to actually know you.
They notice that you always save the best bite for last. They know what songs you never skip. They know what's going to make you laugh, even when you're trying really hard not to.
And eventually, they start knowing parts of you that you didn't even realize you were showing them. Not because they're studying you, but because they care enough to pay attention.
And I think we underestimate truly how intimate that is—to have someone look past the version of you that you put on for everybody else and become familiar with the person underneath it. The weird parts, the annoying parts, the fears you don't talk about, the dreams you're almost embarrassed to admit you have. And instead of making you feel like those things are too much, they make you feel safe enough to show them more.
That is what love is to me. Not creating someone in a perfect image and falling in love with that image—someone seeing you as you actually are, and choosing to stay curious about you anyway. Because people change. The person you love today won't be the same person you love five years from now, so loving them means continuing to see them—to ask questions, to notice, to learn who they're becoming instead of assuming you already know everything about them.
Because maybe one of the greatest feelings in this world is realizing that somebody knows exactly who you are, and you never had to beg them to pay attention."
© Single to married
