Have you heard about... #lovelanguages?

Thursday 28 December 2023

Have you heard about #lovelanguages? No, I’m not talking about the accents you find the sexiest, or a language you can pick up by downloading a linguistic app, this is far deeper than that.

“Deeper than my commitment to Antonio Banderas or keeping up my Duolingo streak. How can that possibly be?!” I hear you cry. It may sound far-fetched, but it’s true.

When we think of languages, our immediate association is a framework of words and grammatical rules which communicate meaning.

But #lovelanguages are a little different, #lovelanguages are frameworks of behaviour and actions which communicate affection.

They are the rules which govern the way we conduct ourselves in romantic and platonic relationships with the people who we care about the most.  

Pictured: Physical touch means conveying love and connection through physical contact. 

Now, if we’re going to get all clichéd about it, love is all about give and take (puke!) and the same goes for #lovelanguages.

This basically means that we can be more prone to showing and receiving love in certain ways and these ways are encapsulated by a range of different #lovelanguages. 

Pictured: Words of affirmation mean expressing love and appreciation through compliments and kind words.

So, what are these different #lovelanguages anyway? Alright, alright, I’m getting to that! You lot are so impatient!!

I’m going to explain the different #lovelanguages with examples of how you can use each one to express your love and devotion to CONNECT magazine...

1. Physical touch: hold your copy of CONNECT magazine, cradle its pages in your arms, run your fingers up and down its spine (you get the gist).
2. Words of affirmation: tell your copy of CONNECT magazine how much you love it, whisper sweet nothings to it, vocalise your adoration for the Channel Islands’ leading business mag – I LOVE YOU, CONNECT! I LOVE YOU!! NO OTHER MAGAZINE WILL DO, YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE FOR ME – you know, er, something like that...
3. Quality time: give your copy of CONNECT your undivided attention. Sit down with it and take the time to get to know it, read it from cover to cover and make it feel special.
4. Acts of service: show your copy of CONNECT how much you love it by doing things for it, roll out the red carpet, go the extra mile. Come on, it’s not that much to ask!!
5. Gift giving: buy your copy of CONNECT a special present to show it you were thinking of it, even when the two of you were apart. 

Looking at this list, you probably know which of the #lovelanguages you speak fluently and which ones you’re a bit rusty on.

And, hopefully, you have real, human loved ones in your life which means you’re not having to practice all your #lovelanguages on a business magazine (but hey, no judgment!).

Pictured: Quality time means showing love by giving undivided attention and spending meaningful time together.

Sometimes, in all the noise and chaos of Internet buzzwords, all this new terminology can feel quite overwhelming. And, obviously, the ways in which we give and receive love are more complicated than this list of five #lovelanguages can express.

We’re in a moment where we’re both being encouraged to think outside of the box of self-expression and that we can be or do whatever we put our minds to, whilst being pressured to categorise and label each part of yourself. 

Pictured: Acts of service refers to expressing love by performing helpful tasks or services for a loved one.

So, whilst the #lovelanguages test is a fun personality quiz to do, remember not to narrow yourself down or confine yourself to these niche categories too much.

Because you’re amazing, exactly the way you are, and I love that about you. 

Pictured: Gift-giving means demonstrating love through thoughtful gifts and gestures.

Yes, my #lovelanguage is words of affirmation – how did you guess?

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This article appeared first in the December 2023/January 2024 edition of Connect Magazine, which you can read in full below...