Something has been bugging me for a while now and I simply must get it off my chest.

It is "Love you."  This phrase frustrates the hell out of me.  Oh, part of me knows love expressed in whatever form is a beautiful, wonderful, blessed thing.  The best thing in the world.  I know I should be more open to this, more accepting of how many of the things we say and write these days have been shortened up:  cu later, wtf, ttyl, @, lol, and so on.  Don't worry, those bug me too, but I can probably let them go.  Probably.

But I just can't let "love you" go.  I can not let it go because I personally can not let the people I love wonder, even for less than the time it takes their heart to beat, if I really, truly, deeply mean it.  I know that to put the "I" back in requires us to add one more second to our time (maybe less, how long does it exactly take to say "I"?) and it requires one more keystroke (or 2 if you count the space in between "I" and "love") and one more little line if we are writing it by hand.  I am pretty sure if I have that kind of time, so do you.

I am being facetious of course.   What it really comes down to is being brave.  Brave enough to say "I" am in this relationship, as in "I am brave enough to tell you this even though doing so makes me a bit uncomfortable, a little squirmy, and a little more "out there" than I normally like to be."  Putting the "I" in risks getting hurt, and if you take the "I" out, it feels a little safer, a little better protected, a little less of a personal investment.  Putting the "I" in requires you to be present on the moment, giving honoured attention to how you really feel.  I say, "Take a deep breath, be brave, and own that I!"  It can be so hard, but oh so rewarding.

Try putting the "I" in, folks.  Even just once in a while. 

wishing you the beauty that comes from bravery,
hk