So, there’s this “debate” going on about saying ‘I love you’ on a YouTube video I watched recently. Lots of people are complaining about how, in America, it’s become an overused phrase “similar to a greeting” and has lost all it’s meaning. There’s also a lot of praise for how other countries “do it better” >.> of course there is, “Americans think they’re so~ great…” right?

Anyways, as someone who does say it rather often, I shared my thoughts:

I’m constantly saying ‘I love you’ to those I love (AND doing actions to express that) because I don’t know if I’ll have another chance to do so. Having lost people in the past, both expectedly and unexpectedly, it’s important to me that those I care about know how I feel. Even if they’re all “yeah, I know”, they understand that it’s important to me to express that. Most people around the globe understand the whole ‘actions speak louder than words’ thing, but that doesn’t make saying it directly meaningless in any way. In America, I actually say it WAY more than anyone around me, and that’s NOT including what I discussed above. The only real times I hear people around me say it are when 1) they are in a relationship (mostly when they first fall in love and/or when the relationship gets serious) and 2) when something major happens and they feel the need to. I would say it’s pretty uncommon in my area (Michigan) to hear people say it; like, whenever my family or my boyfriend called me, they would just say bye if I didn’t say it. And, I never hear my friends saying it to their family and such. I have a feeling a lot of this has to do with much of America being stuck in a romanticism delusion and that being portrayed through our media.

Also, it hasn’t lost it’s meaning at all, just that it’s gained various levels of meaning that one (in a way) has to be American to understand. Like it or not, Americans decided not to make different words for different feelings and instead decided that it’s all love, just at different levels. This, however, does not lessen the meaning of when someone says ‘I love you’ to express love to a significant other. In America, you have to look at the context, the whole, rather than focusing on exactly what was said.

And, on the whole ‘actions speak louder than words’ thing… I never quite got that. I mean, I get it, but I don’t… does that make sense? >.<;; Men are said to be ‘a man of their word’ and we’re supposed to ‘take people at their word’, but... apparently that only goes so far. Rather, I think that BOTH of these things are required - neither is more important that the other. You need to be able to trust someone’s actions AND their words. Also, at least in American culture, things are supposed to be equally these days - meaning that a guy doing the dishes or taking out the trash isn’t a sign of love like it may have been way back when. That kind of stuff is just expected these days. So, what then? If someone takes you out to dinner or buys you a gift? ...we’re all materialistic now, is that it? Maybe when they hug you or hold your hand? But, to me, that is way more common than saying I love you. They’ll stand by you through whatever? Ok sure, but so will you’re friends (if they actually care about you), and still some people are saying that ‘I love you’ should only be used with significant others. ...basically, it’s complicated, and I think people are trying to make it even more so. We don’t need one huge, mighty, all powerful word OR action that showcases the almighty emotion that is ‘love’. I think people are trying to make this so convoluted because “we’re all special snowflakes” and we all want to feel more and more special, like “no one else feels the way I feel” - “that’s not love, stop calling it that!” Love is completely subjective to every single individual and your thoughts on the matter are meaningless to someone else, so lets just let people express love however they want to ok? (with respect to the person receiving said love, of course!)