MJisConfused

I feel the same! The idea of having a life partner that loves you unconditionally sounds amazing and something that I would like to have in the future. But I also find that I'm never interested in dating or meeting new people with the main goal being to form a romantic bond. It's always "wow they're so cool I can't wait to be they're best friend". I feel like a walking paradox of wanting romance and partnership but not being able to look at someone romantically. (There may be some demiromantic parts here too)

Hello, I have just started my journey to figuring out where I lie on the aro spectrum so this is mostly a lot of my bottled up confusion. In definitions of aro identities it is always defined as their view/relationship with romantic attraction (repulsion, lack of, little amount, etc.) But what exactly is romantic attraction? Personally, I am realizing that I love my friend very deeply, the kind of love where you emotionally depend on them, tell them everything, would do anything for them, and just always want to be around them. Some people say the dividing line is "Do you want to cuddle, kiss, or hug them?" and if it's yes then that means you are romantically attracted to them. As an ace person but also a person that shows affection through physical touch (hugs, hand holding) I can't really use that as a dividing line. I've been in a relationship that did all of the above but it turned out I didn't really like being sexually intimate with him and cuz I was an ace lesbian (lol rip him but not really he was an asshole). I've also had amazing friendships where we bonded so tightly and were really physical with each other: big hugs, hand holding, cuddling (not in a sexually attraction way). So what is the line then? Wanting life-long commitment? Wanting kids? I know plenty alloromantic people that want neither and I just learned that some QP relationships can be life-long, so no these defining factors don't help. How am I supposed to find the dividing line between platonic love and romantic love?