Shades of love- Palentine's day*

This mini collection is more affordable than my standard beaded items, and represents various types of love that people experience. Being Asexual, I often get asked to clarify between Sexual and Romantic attraction, and sometimes asked to clarify between Romantic and Platonic attraction as well. These are how I see the differences, and may not be the variations that others see!

The red pearl pair is Sexual attraction. It draws everyone's attention, is in the stereotypical valentine's style, and is seen as the "norm". Sexual attraction is no more or less valid than any other type of attraction, but is the one that seems to be discussed most.
The shades of pink bicone pair is the Romantic attraction. It starts off as just a hint of interest, and- when pursued- deepens in color, size, and intrigue. Romantic attraction CAN lead to sexual attraction, but it doesn't always! It doesn't HAVE to! You can love someone without wanting sex, people. Being Ace, this is normally where I find myself. Love without expectations of physical intimacy is GLORIOUS.
The next one, the rose quartz pair, represents Squishes. It isn't easily recognized, and some people misidentify it as something else. For this reason, I used a pair of very pale rose quartz faceted stones. I almost didn't recognize them when I first bought them, and thought they were mislabeled milky quartz. Once I picked them up and saw the sun shine through them though, I saw the small pink veins running throughout the stones. I feel like they perfectly describe my understanding of what a squish is! This term is used by the Aromantic community, and while I don't know how EVERYONE uses the term, I see it as more than friends but not QUITE a romantic pairing.
The last pair is the white pearls, which represent platonic affection. Platonic affection has absolutely NO trace of romantic or sexual attraction in it- you're genuinely just friends. I feel like platonic affection doesn't get enough hype tbh, it's such an important thing to have in your life!!

This mini collection shows some of the different ways that people experience love in their lives, and how such different experiences can all be part of the same thing- love.