If Someone Loves You On A Soul Level, They'll Protect These 11 Parts Of Your Relationship Fiercely
They care enough to put in the effort.
Drazen Zigic | Shutterstock Relationships and romantic connections are nuanced on so many levels. The way couples communicate, the things they prioritize, and the way they convey their romantic love to each other tend to differ from person to person and couple to couple. However, there are certain behaviors and relationship foundations that are nonnegotiable — respect, trust, communication, emotional support, and other big-picture skills.
If someone loves you on a soul level, they’ll protect these parts of your relationship fiercely. Even if it means they have to personally grow and heal, lean into intimacy when they’re struggling, or prioritize the little things in their relationship, they show up, no matter what.
If someone loves you on a soul level, they’ll protect these 11 parts of your relationship fiercely
1. Your safe space
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If someone loves you on a soul level, they’ll protect your safe space more than their own personal fleeting comfort or their ego. From cultivating safe places for connection in your literal shared space to finding ways to ensure your voice, personality, and even your inner child feel loved, it’s all important for a secure relationship.
Even if it’s not always convenient, comfortable, or easy to protect this space — amid a heated argument or in an uncomfortable family gathering — it’s a priority for a partner who truly and deeply loves you.
2. Healthy communication skills
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Healthy communication skills are often an indicator of relationship well-being and satisfaction. Even if things are heated, a couple is arguing, or they’re navigating a much bigger rough patch, if they respect each other and love on a soul level, they communicate with empathy and love.
From active listening when they’re busy to making time for little moments of connection, people who love truly and genuinely are willing to set their ego aside and grow into a secure identity that allows them to communicate with ease.
3. Trust
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Even if it’s uncomfortable to trust and communicate with honesty through hard subjects, like Harvard psychologist Dr. Cortney Warren explains, if someone loves you on a soul level, they’ll protect these parts of your relationship fiercely.
The healthiest couples don’t consider a “happy” relationship as something that’s always exciting, joyful, and easy, but thriving with a foundation of trust that allows even rough patches to add value to their connection.
4. Your voice
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Feeling heard in a romantic relationship is often an indicator of satisfaction, but the small habits and rituals that ensure couples feel this level of understanding are often overlooked. From being the quiet person in conversations to asking thoughtful questions, scheduling check-ins together, and emotionally supporting each other amid chaos, someone who truly loves you will always protect your voice.
Even if it’s simply empowering you to use and celebrate your own voice, someone who truly loves you cares enough to make intentional space for you.
5. Your boundaries
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Like psychotherapist Denise Fournier suggests, harmony in a relationship starts with clarity and openness on a personal level — something that boundaries and honest conversations often facilitate. If you’re honest and open with your partner about your needs, emotions, and concerns, chances are these boundaries will sort of create themselves, but sometimes, it’s the maintaining them that truly boosts a couple’s growth.
If someone loves you on a soul level, they’ll protect these parts of your relationship fiercely. They’re not just willing to apologize when they step over a boundary unknowingly — they’re careful about protecting and supporting you when other people don’t clearly respect your boundaries.
6. Quality time together
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Whether it’s a romantic relationship or not, intentional quality time together and undivided attention truly help to bond people closer together. Especially in long-term romantic relationships and marriages, this quality time may be harder and harder to find as partners get older and busier, but they make all the difference.
From conflict-resolution skills to building intimacy, if someone loves you on a soul level, they prioritize quality time to bolster every aspect of your relationship. While they’re careful about alone time and individuality, quality time and closeness are just as much of a priority.
7. Your inner child
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Relationships and romantic connections often bring up our suppressed inner child’s wounds, whether it’s insecurity, a fear of rejection, or an inherent desire to people-please to protect the peace. When a partner isn’t accepting of a person’s growth with healing their inner child, it can often cause further damage and disconnect.
However, someone who truly loves you isn’t just looking for perfection and intelligence all the time — they understand that the best relationships are the ones that identify struggles, heal, and grow together.
8. Your future
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Being willing and able to comfortably talk about goals and support a partner in reaching their dreams are all important for building a healthy relationship. Like a study from Purdue University suggests, jealousy and envy sabotage both personal self-esteem and dreams, but also disconnect partners and spark resentment.
However, when someone loves you on a soul level, they’ll protect your future, dreams, and goals. They’re secure enough in themselves to celebrate you and support you, even if they’re not necessarily achieving everything in their personal lives that they’d like to just yet.
9. Your quirky personality
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If someone loves you on a soul level, they’ll always protect your authenticity. They don’t expect you to be anyone but yourself, with all your personality traits, quirks, and eccentric habits included. Authenticity and feeling accepted for it in a relationship are both incredibly important indicators of relationship well-being.
Not only does perceived authenticity convey trustworthiness and stability in a relationship, but feeling heard and accepted by a partner also has its own slew of benefits and joys.
10. Your alone time and independence
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While feelings of loneliness and social isolation are largely tied to relationship well-being in negative ways, according to a study from Behavioral Sciences, alone time is wildly important.
Not only does it offer space for both partners to rest, regulate, and decompress, but it also offers space for people to feed into their own independent identity and personality without the veil of companionship over it. Whether they use this time to do hobbies or connect with their friends, it’s time that a healthy, loving partner always protects.
11. Your dignity
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Even amid conflict or heated emotional conversations, if someone loves you on a soul level, they’ll protect your dignity. They’ll offer you the mutual respect that’s necessary for a healthy relationship and always make an effort to speak positively and defend you behind your back.
While this foundation of protection and respect is often a nonnegotiable for many people, the small ways in which a partner protects it are often in the little, intimate moments together.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
