Sally Lindsay: How would you describe what love feels like to you?

The question

How would you describe what love feels like to you?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this exact standing prompt.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

So many different types. When I first met my husband, electric and vital. When I first held my boys in my arms, an overwhelming flood of defiant protection and magic.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 August 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 213 →

Kathy Lette Australian-British author

Falling in love is like going to the doctor and being told that you need to put on weight. You feel elated.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 June 2024 source ↗

Alison Steadman British actress

Friendly and warm.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 January 2009 source ↗

David Harewood British actor and presenter

A warm knowing.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2019 source ↗

Hamza Yassin

Hurtful, hard, like concrete but also the soft, silky, smooth, cool pillow that you lay your head on. It’s like birds singing in the morning with the aurora going over your head at night. That’s love for me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 September 2023 source ↗

More from Sally Lindsay

View profile →

Question What one change would most improve the quality of your daily life? Daily life

It’s already happened – HRT.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 August 2025 source ↗

Question When were you most embarrassed? Failure & regret

I constantly forget people’s names when they have literally just told me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 August 2025 source ↗

Question Who deserves an apology from you, and for what? Failure & regret

When I was 17 I didn’t visit my gran for six weeks as I was out partying. At the end of that summer she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I never saw the real her again. I would love to say sorry to her as I loved her so much.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 August 2025 source ↗