I agree, it makes sense to fear love, but also to have the courage to love anyways.

I often frame love as emotional intimacy, and when the level of closeness is very high, just like with physical intimacy, one can get more hurt. Can't get stabbed from far away. But also can't kiss from far away. One slight movement could mean a kiss or a headbutt.

So yes, I think feeling that close to someone has the risk of really hurting us...but also helping us.

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nuancebydefault 3 days ago | parent [-]

> love as emotional intimacy

Nicely framed! Something I am often in limbo about: how open/intimate can I be with this or that person. Often you only see the thin line after you stepped on it or over it. Then it leads either to shame or regret.

Indeed bravery is needed to walk close to that line.

I recently learned as well that expressing emotional intimacy can be seen as a dance. You reach out and bravely await a response that might come or not, and that might be positive, negative or indifferent. Your move, their move, and so on.

	▲	lukan 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		"I recently learned as well that expressing emotional intimacy can be seen as a dance. You reach out and bravely await a response that might come or not, and that might be positive, negative or indifferent. Your move, their move, and so on." Maybe try contact improvisation, then it becomes a literal dance. Emotions expressed as body motions. And you act and react to others. Exploring, moving forward, or backward and block yourself again. How you feel it. And also deal with rejection. Cool, that move was too much, I back off. No big deal, I also set my own boundaries. And maybe I open later. But all that I didn't really learn in school or in childhood. There I rather learned to keep my walls up.