Having trouble defining your affection for a friend? Or have you misunderstood the feeling as something deeper and romantic? To understand the concept of platonic love that generally appears in a friendship and to build a stronger foundation of friendship, try reading this article!
Step
Step 1. Understand the concept of love and the differences in it
In fact, love manifests itself in the emotional attachment one has to another. Generally, love is expressed through real actions, care, or concern. However, understand that love does not have a single form and definition. For example, love between a mother and child can be categorized as love between families. Meanwhile, love between couples can be categorized as romantic love.
Love between friends is a form of platonic love. In other words, the love is purely spiritual, not physical. If a boy and girl are always seen together but not dating, they are most likely harboring a platonic love for each other
Step 2. Think about your feelings for the person
Do you often harbor romantic or erotic fantasies about him? If so, chances are that you do have a deeper love for him. However, if you don't, or if you just love to travel and chat with him, chances are that the feelings you have are platonic love.
Step 3. Don't misunderstand affection for a friend as romantic love
The greatest confusion will generally arise if someone misunderstands his care and concern for others as feelings of romantic love. Don't worry, humans are basically easy to misunderstand their feelings, whether consciously or not.
Step 4. Understand how strong a platonic love can be
Remember, you don't have to love someone romantically to feel intense emotions for them, especially if they're someone you really care about. Similar to romantic love, actually platonic love can create a very strong bond between the parties involved in it.
Step 5. Think about your perspective on friendship
Does everyone you know fall into the “friends” category? Or are “friends” people you already know well? To identify the type of love you feel, first understand what your norms are about platonic love.
Tips
- Think about your personal definition of love and friendship. In fact, the portrait of your relationship with other people really depends on that perspective.
- Try doing further research on the types of love to help you understand the concept of platonic love better.
- Be honest and build good communication patterns. Make sure all your actions and decisions don't violate his personal boundaries!
- Reflect on your perspective on love. What are you really looking for?
- Understand your friend's perspective on love and friendship before admitting that your feelings for them have changed. To do this, try inserting a topic, statement, or question related to love and/or friendship, and then observe the reaction. Remember, rushing to confess to your best friend risks destroying your precious friendship!
Warning
- Indeed, a platonic relationship will be deeper and more qualified if the parties in it can respect each other's various boundaries.
- Take as much time as possible to understand your true feelings before making any confessions to the other person. Remember, your friendship is at stake!
- Be careful, harboring feelings that you don't really understand can lead to unnecessary pain or even loss. Think before making any commitments or conclusions!
