How to Navigate Love

A fortnightly column about emotional well-being Our understanding of what it means to be in love evolves as we age, grow and move through various life stages

- Sonali Gupta

In 20 years of working as a therapist, I have never seen so many clients, across age groups, talk about the shift in the way we understand commitment and intimacy, which is leaving them confused and disillusioned. People are experiencing self-doubt, sadness, a longing for love and yearning for pleasure in ways where their needs can also be met.

Our understanding of what it means to be in love continually evolves as we move across various life stages.

Love can evoke all kinds of emotions, including anxiety and dissonance. That's why researchers, poets, and philosophers have written elaborately about their felt experiences and how it works.

Yet, something feels different now. I love how this zeitgeist is showing up in our movies, podcasts, and songs. The themes that movies and shows are exploring are reminders of what it means to be loved, to be in a relationship, and want fierce freedom too.

This pattern is reflected in therapy sessions where clients are talking about their struggles when it comes to finding love, sustaining relationships, and feeling loneliness within relationships.