Is Intimacy More Important Than Just Being Intimidated by Someone?

Love is one of the most powerful human needs. We all need love, to some extent. Love is the most powerful force on earth and the greatest force for creating harmony and happiness in our lives. We can give unconditional love, romantic love, familial love, or parental love. No matter which label we choose, love has a special meaning and power in our lives.

Love includes a whole range of positive and negative emotional and psychological states, from the strongest religious feeling, the most sublime personal trait, the most intense interpersonal compassion, the most tranquil sense of well-being or even the tranquilest state of being. Some people might say that love is a feeling and therefore love would include the physiological feelings of love such as the feelings you get when you look at your spouse or mate. And others might say that love is a concept or an attitude. Still others might say that love is the combination of all these and then there are those who might say that love is in fact a substance or a form of life.

If love were in fact only a feeling then one could say that true love means to feel sexual desires for another person. True love would not exist if one were attracted only to his/her mate or spouse without having any sexual desires for another person. True love would exist only in the realm of feelings.

However, love is also not merely a mental or emotional emotion but is also a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual experience. Love is a state of complete and total satisfaction with oneself and with another person. In fact, love is a union of two separate beings into one integrated personality. To love another person means to be fully satisfied with another person’s qualities such as his/her kindness, intellect, character, and personality.

Love creates an atmosphere for two people to relate to each other in a deeper way than ordinary, carnal, physical relationships. True love promotes security, harmony, and strength in its relationship. It also creates a space for the two people to respect, trust, honor, and appreciate each other. In fact, intimacy actually serves as the well-being mechanism of a relationship. Intimacy provides us with the space to feel safe, nurtured, and validated as we come into a relationship with another person.

Loving another means accepting and loving yourself as well. This is because when you love another you not only accept him/her as he/she is, you also accept and love yourself. Thus, when your partner feels good about himself and starts to relate to you on a deeper level, it means that you’ve just created a healthy relationship. Healthy relationships foster healthy feelings. Intimacy, therefore, is important for building a satisfying, long-lasting relationship.