third-year priya desai

Whenever I go home for the weekend, I wake up on Saturday mornings to food on the stove and a full tank of gas, thanks to my dad. My dog walks up to me when I’m sitting on the couch, licks my foot once, and walks away. In Athens, my roommate and I anxiously await the premiere of our show, Riverdale (the best worst show in the world). Wherever I am, one friend sends me videos of curly hair tips, another makes me a playlist, and I harass my closest friends with memes about their enneagram type. My siblings and I constantly trade TV show recommendations, making plans for all the horrible horror movies we’ll watch over Thanksgiving break. When someone drops me off at the end of the night, I linger in their car too long, not wanting the conversation to end.

These are all expressions of love, whether or not we say the words.

Like any romantic, I’m obsessed with the idea of love: how we express it in the same ways we expect to receive, how we sometimes don’t see it, even when it’s right in front of us. We’re all blind to these expressions of affection, until we learn what to look for from one another.

New relationships are always difficult to navigate in this way. In my family, TV is a love language of its own. Everyone has designated shows to watch with each other, specific movies for specific seasons. If I ask a friend to watch a show with me, or rewatch a movie I’ve seen five times before, it’s an expression of love at its most vulnerable, whether they see it or not. Don’t get me wrong—I love reading about love languages, and I’m sure you could categorize any of these actions as an example of one of the five love languages (personally, I’m partial to words of affirmation and quality time). But I think it goes deeper than that. In the hands of the right person, “how was your day?” could be directly translated to “I love you,” if you know to listen for it.

So this is a reminder: Sometimes love is as simple as doing the dishes so your roommates don’t have to. Sending a song to someone because it reminds you of them. Apologizing, when you know you should. Learning how to make tea, because your best friend loves it. Making a point to facetime once a week, when you can’t see each other in person. Love is always around you, in the simplest of ways, if you know where to look for it.

Doing the Dishes