What Does It Feel Like to Be in Love? Like Seeing in Color

What does it feel like to be in love? It is an amazing feeling. A mixture of fear, overwhelmed, confused, and wonderful. It might be a bumpy ride.

I thought that this might be a hard subject to cover. I mean have you ever had someone ask you what the color blue is? That is kind of like asking what does it feel like to be in love. The experience for everyone is so different, and it depends on what type of love you talk about.

Unfortunately, love is wasted on the young. Why do I say that? Well, because by the time you know what you felt, it is over. The intensity of your first love is something that you can't ever feel again. Instead of enjoying your first love, your head is so immature and stuck in something else, the experience seems to be all for not.

What does it feel like to be in love?

But, if you are past the “puppy love” of adolescence and wondering what it feels like when you are in love, I will try to describe it. But, just like not being able to explain a color, love is something so miraculous that it is hard to put into words.

So, what I will do is tell you what I would tell my five-year-old, if she asked. Likely, it will strike a nerve in you and be something that answers your question.

#1 You feel them there when they aren't around. As a mother, when my children aren't home, or they are out on their own, my arms ache. It is the strangest feeling. It is like you have a longing in your soul for the person you love.

Even though they aren't physically next to you, when you are in love, you feel their presence in the good times and in the bad. This is why they are typically the first person you want to contact when something major happens. Almost like a guardian angel on your shoulder, when you are in love, they reside in your heart, which makes them with you always.

#2 When they hurt, you hurt, just as much if not more. When you love someone, and they hurt, you hurt for and with them. A step above empathy, it is almost like they are an extension of you.

Sometimes when they are hurt, it feels like it hurts you more because you can't save them or do anything to take the hurt away. When you are in love, you feel this absolute obligation to defend them both emotionally and physically. So, if they are wounded, you feel it too.

#3 You would defend them with your own life. Since you would rather die than be without the person you love, if a bullet came their way, you would gladly step in front of it for them. Being left here on earth to carry on in their absence would be like someone taking the oxygen from your lungs.

Sure, it sounds super sappy and over the top, and you might not really recognize it, but when you love someone, and they are no longer here, it is difficult to carry on. I found that out the hard way. Love is forever, and you want to be together forever. You might not feel it all at once, but in their absence, something is missing eternally.

#4 Your future spreads out before you like your past would after you die. When you realize that you love someone, it is like the world opens up and you see all the things in your future that you want. Almost like the missing piece to your puzzle, when you love someone, it makes everything fall into place.

Being in love is like finding out the secret that you waited for to find purpose in your mundane world. No longer going from day to day without any real compass, being in love hands you the compass that points you in the right direction to move forward. 

#5 Their needs and wants take precedence over yours. When you are in love, you are okay with sacrificing your needs and wants for someone else. In the end, as much as you think you want or need something, seeing their face happy suddenly trumps all the things that make you happy.

No longer wanting for yourself, their happiness and needs fulfilled makes yours fulfilled. Not about you making you happy; it is about making each other happy in a non-selfish way.

#6 You just want to see them happy and happy with you. Being in love brings out this need to please and to be loved back. That is why if someone you love is upset with you or finds out something about you that might change their opinion of you, it is devastating.

You want the person you are in love with to love and respect you wholeheartedly. You care very much about what they think and want for them to see you as a good person and worthy of their unconditional love in return for yours.

#7 You feel whole for the first time in your life. Love feels like you are complete for the first time. You spend your whole young life searching for what makes you happy. Sometimes you think it is the car, the house, the bank account, but when you find the person you love, truly love, all those things seem insignificant in comparison.

When you find love, you suddenly want those things to make the one you love happy instead of yourself.

#8 You are no longer going it alone. When you are in love, it is like someone filling up your emotional tank. Suddenly all the loneliness you feel is gone. It isn't just you against the world anymore. It is you and your partner fighting crime and taking names.

The most freeing and strengthening sense in the world, it isn't just you out there trying to figure it out. There is safety in numbers and someone to fall back on when times get rough. Having someone to go through life with is an amazing feeling and one that takes a huge burden off of your lonely plate.

#9 It is like someone gave you oxygen for the first time. Being in love is like taking your first real breath of oxygen or seeing color for the first time. Breathing new life into your emotions, you feel everything at once. Sure, it can be overwhelming, but it is also the most amazing and life affirming feeling life has to offer.

You never forget the day when you realize you are in love. It is forever imprinted in your heart and mind. You remember where the person you love was, the way they looked at you, and everything that went through your head when the love light bulb finally went on.

#10 It can be scary. With all good must come some bad. Being in love can also be a time of fear. If you have nothing, then you have nothing to lose. Once you find the one you love, then there is the potential you could lose them. This is a very scary thing.

Someone taking away something so miraculous keeps you holding on too tightly, jealous, or clinging for dear life. The good news about love, if returned, there is no need for fear. Love is boundless, endless, kind, and forgiving, always.

Being in love is like seeing color for the first time. Everything you see changes and comes to life. Of course, nothing will ever be the same once you experience love. But, that is a good thing.

If you love someone, keep them close to your heart, forgive their indiscretions and never let go of the feeling the moment you discovered you loved them and there is no reason that you can't be that couple hobbling down the road at 90 holding onto one another.

What it feels like to be in love is a scary, amazing, exhilarating, overwhelming, opportunistic, fantastic, and spectacular thing. Stop analyzing it, don't fear it, and just hop on the ride and see where it takes you. But, also remember to enjoy it for as long as it lasts.