Relationships can be complicated nowadays.

With Valentine's Day soon approaching, it can be hard for people who aren't in a relationship to handle the holiday. For some reason, many people lately are stuck in the grounds of "What are we?". Now, until there's a label on a relationship, it can be confusing to some if they are even officially together. People believe that this is because of the loss of the true meaning of love with newer generations, but this is not exactly the case. The concept of love is solid in people's minds, the idea that two people have an immense amount of passion and caring for one another. However, expression of love has always blurred the lines of whether the love is present or not. Why is this?

People express love in different ways. The Five Languages of Love, a book by Gary Chapman, explains the different ways that people show their feelings.

To Chapman, love can be shown by words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, quality time, or physical touch. Every single person does not show love in the same way. Even though we know what love IS, we do not know what love looks like- especially with people we try to force love on in a new relationship. Even if you are taking things slow, it can be hard to decipher if someone has feelings for you or not based on the different ways of showing love. As humans, we expect our actions, especially ones backed by emotion and passion to be reciprocated in the same way. So, say you are a very verbal person with your emotions. You would then expect them to also be verbal with their feelings towards you, but what if they show their affection by physical touch? It can be misleading in our minds, which is why dating and romance have been more complicated, especially with the introduction of social media.

To prove your love and happiness in a relationship, it has become a common expectation to post things about your partner on social media.

You have to constantly like and comment on every post, uphold a pointless emoji on Snapchat that proves that you are each other's BEST friends, and the worst of them all-- pose for the perfect "candid" shot for Instagram. This public display of love is not how everyone chooses to show their affection, and trying to force it on someone who doesn't like to show their love, in the same way, is a good way to end a relationship.

So, if you're in that sticky situation where you don't know where things are going because your feelings aren't being reciprocated in the way you show yours, don't fret. Open your mind and think about how your partner expresses their feelings. You will slowly realize how they show their feelings towards you. Once you can do that, you are ready for a healthy relationship with a strong foundation built upon true feelings.