Love Talk

In this reflective episode, Stephen Bauman turns his attention to one of the simplest—and most complicated—words we use: love. Drawing on lived experience and a line from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, Stephen observes how most of us fall into one of two camps: those who say “I love you” too easily and those who withhold it almost entirely. In either case, something essential is missing.Stephen suggests that beneath our awkwardness with love lies a deeper fear—that we are not fully worthy of it ourselves, and therefore hesitant to offer it freely to others. And yet, the paradox at the heart of love is this: it is not a scarce resource. The more generously and appropriately it is given, the more it grows.A quiet meditation on vulnerability, generosity, and the strange human resistance to learning what love has always been trying to teach us. Get full access to Living in the Meantime at livinginthemeantime.substack.com/subscribe