Now, I know what you're thinking. You think I'm just some broken-hearted cynic who doesn't believe in love anymore, but that's not true. I really love love. But the phrase "I love you" is painted all over our idea of romance. Romance movies end at the "I love you." Novels are written about budding lovers that finally discover that they want to be together forever. But how many times have people said those three words because they felt like it was time to, or needed to keep someone else interested, or because they wanted forgiveness? People say them all the time and don't mean it, so why do we still place such a high value on it?

I alone have probably said I love something 12 times today in reference to pizza or Netflix or some other stupid thing which I feel no romantic inclination towards. You might argue that saying I love the show Friends is a world away from saying I love my best friend, but why is it? Its the same word. We throw "love" around so much and have almost forgotten what it really means. The Greeks have three words for three very different kinds of love, and they use them accordingly and with the weight that the word calls for. Every relationship has the "I love you" milestone, but after that momentous first time, those three words often become a mindless repetition that hold no gravity. There are people that whisper these words to someone while they lie to them. How can this stale, banal phrase really be considered a true depiction of how people feel for each other?

People have romanticized the idea of falling in love so much that they have forgotten what real love looks like. Love is not the end of a rom-com where Hugh Grant kisses you in the rain and declares his undying love for you Love is when someone brings you a Sprite back from the C-Store because they know it's your favorite drink. Or when they decide to watch your show on Netflix instead of going out to the movie they really wanted to see because they know you had a long, exhausting day. Sure, saying "I love you" is important to remind those around you that you do, in fact, love them; but real love doesn't exist because you say that it does, it's in all of the other things a person does between those words that prove they care for you in a way that runs deeper than Chuck Bass saying his three words, eight letters. When someone tells you that they love you, it shouldn't really be a surprise. People show their love in a million little ways before they ever say that "huge" phrase. So maybe we should stop celebrating the "Big 'I love you"' and start appreciating the real, tangible ways that love manifests itself in our lives.