What does intimacy mean to you?

I thought you'd understand but you didn't.

If there's any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt.

If you haven’t read these lines before, I highly recommend you to go watch the movie ‘Before Sunrise’ and thank me later. I don’t have any concrete idea of intimacy and writing this piece is a way to figure it out. One thing I’m sure of is that intimacy is never just physical but it's the feeling that - I hear you, I’ve seen you and everything about that moment wants me to exist.

Mentioning a few moments shared by different people with me, which made me feel that way and I’m hoping after that you will see intimacy from different lenses than only sharing that space with a romantic partner. 

“I sent him a song which was my favorite. The lyrics, the music, the voice of the singer always calms me down when I get anxious”

“I woke up with my parents fighting over me, but he sent me a cute snap of himself telling me to have a nice day, what do I say to him though? That a nice day is spent drinking chai at our favourite tapri.”

“You know we were kissing, it was good, but I didn’t feel like doing anything more. So, we opened the door and his dog jumped over me, maybe because I started smelling like him. I think that became the highlight of my day”

“I remind him sometimes to take his ADHD meds. We’re just friends. We have met once. But we occasionally spill our hearts to each other”

“First it was memes, then music, now he took me to his favourite pizza outlet. He loves that place and didn’t want it to be famous and all crowded. But I deserved to know it, right?”

“You know I can talk to you about anything. It’s like I’ve known you for the longest time”

“I lost my mother on this day, seven years ago. I just wanted to talk to someone and you were my first choice”

Time & again we are forced to believe that intimacy is shared between two people who love each other but I think intimacy steps from people who attempts to do a thing or two to make your life a little more easier.

But still, what does intimacy means to you?