Spring is a time of love and gift giving with Valentine's and Mother’s Day – even Easter – following one another. They signal a time of love and affection, of expressing how much we mean to one another with gifts, dates, days out and cards filled with declarations of love (one of our hand-designed Shaku cards is perfect to fill with sweet nothings).
But at Shaku, we know that love isn’t always grand and showy. It can be in the little things, simple words and passing touches.
1. Words of Affirmation
Nothing says ‘I love you’ like actually saying ‘I love you’, but we all have our little ways of saying it, and sometimes we forget how much it can mean to hear these words. Sometimes we put our own little spins on it, making the words our own. ‘I love you” can become ‘I adore you’, ‘you’re my whole world’ or ‘you’re my favourite person ever’. These little phrases can make someone's day and remind them just how much you like having them in your life. Whilst actions speak louder than words, words are still very loud.
2. Receiving Gifts
Gift-giving is a certified love language, but we can take it a step further by gifting them something they have been eyeing for ages. Whilst this can require some planning and careful listening, letting someone know they mean that much to you is always the perfect way to say ‘I love you’ and will have them beaming from ear to ear. Maybe they’ve been eyeing our Fuschia Skinny scarf for months or keep dropping hints about how good our black and blue cushions would look on the sofa, but whatever they’ve been after, you can’t go wrong surprising them with it.
Here are some ideas:
3. Shared Moments
‘I love you” can be said with our inside jokes and symbols, these shared memories we have, remember and relive every time we laugh about them. These can be little one-liners, funny voices, names, little gestures or symbols. Those little shared thoughts and ideas, a nod back to your history together. This might even be as simple as holding your hands in a heart (whether it's your whole hand, your thumb and forefinger or forefinger and middle finger, we won't judge) or as complicated as an inside joke with five different layers to it, these seemingly small things let a person know how much you treasure your shared history.
4. A Shoulder To Cry On
Saying ‘I love you” isn’t always loud, sometimes its silent. Sometimes it comes in the form of support and a listening ear. When your bestie or boyfriend needs it, sometimes all they need is an arm around them, a sofa to curl up on (maybe with our Floral Figment blanket for extra cosiness) and someone to hold space for them. At other times, it’s noting when they’re in distress and finding some way to lighten their load, even if it’s as simple as buying them a new scrunchie because their old one snapped. This quiet support is one of the purest and easiest ways we let a person know we love them, and yet we don’t always realise how loved it can make a person feel.
5. Thoughtful Gestures
Acts of service are another certified love language, but beyond that are little acts of helpfulness, these smaller things we do for our loved ones everyday, like sending them an Instagram post they haven’t seen about something they’re interested in, shuffling our schedule around to fit theirs or tidying some mugs away at their house and stacking them how they like it or straightening the cushions on the sofa so they don’t have to do it. These small things we often think go unnoticed are some of the easiest ways we say ‘I love you’ to them.