r/TheBigGirlDiary

Maybe we don't actually fall in love with people. Maybe we fall in love with who we become around them.

I've been thinking about this for a while, and I'm not even sure if it makes sense.

Every person brings out a different version of us. With someone, we might become softer. With someone else, more confident, more carefree, more expressive, or just more like ourselves.

And maybe sometimes, what we call love is actually our attachment to that version of ourselves.

Maybe that's also why people sometimes leave someone when they find another person who brings out a version of them they like more. It doesn't necessarily mean the first person meant nothing. Maybe they just became attached to a different version of themselves.

And when that person is gone, you can still miss them—not necessarily because you want them back, but because you miss who you were when you were with them.

Maybe that's why some people stay in our memories for years.

We don't just remember them.

We remember who we were with them.

Maybe love isn't always “I love you.”

Maybe sometimes it's “I love who I am when I'm with you.”