Little did I know I would fall in love with a person from the opposite side of the planet. Long-distance love isn’t just about the cinematic tropes we see on our devices, always sun-lit and reunions and smiles. More often, it is late-night calls where one is just waking up to start the day, and the other is getting ready for sleep. It lives solely in the quiet moments, where you fall asleep to the rhythm of their breathing at the end of a phone call, or where you memorize the time zone like it’s a birthday, at the tip of your mind.
It is a love built on intention. Choosing someone every day without the comfort of their physical presence. There is no casualness to it – no popping around after work, no brushing past each other in the house, because sadly, we are not living in the same country, let alone the same house. Every conversation is deliberate, and every ‘I miss you’ carries more weight than humanly possible.
Long distance is like an entirely different language of love. You learn how the tone shifts in a text, whether it is a rushed note or intentional, and how to sense sadness in a paused phrase.
You become fluent in reassurance. In patience, and in trust. It stretches across oceans, not through grand gestures, but through consistent good morning and goodnight messages. That certain song brings you the familiarity of happiness between you two, and screenshots of pictures remind you of why you chose this hard and harsh reality of living separately, but together in each other’s hearts.
There will always be longing, and with that, an ache when something good happens, and they aren’t there to witness it. When something bad happens, they also aren’t there to give you the comfort of just a genuine hug. Long-distance love asks you politely to sit with the absent feelings and believe in something you can’t always touch, no matter how much you want to.
But there is always a strange magic to this overwhelming feeling. That is, the way that time together feels so sacred. How airports feel like emotional battlegrounds- half joy, and half grief. How a short weekend can hold the intensity of months. You learn you cannot waste moments away. You need to live in the moment. You learn how precious presence really is.
When love survives all those miles, it does so because it is rooted in something deeper than convenience. It endures because both are willing to grow separately while moving forward towards the same future. It’s not about waiting around for happiness; it is being happy for each other, because the sparks fly when you are together, and you can live a fulfilling life together, no matter the circumstances or consequences. The foundation is so strong that nothing can break it down.
This was written by our contributing writer, Megan Evans.
Image Source: Pexels, Anna Shvets
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