Hearth & Horn

I tend to think of it like a cup (or whatever other container). Banishing helps you dump out what's already in the cup and clean it out, so you can fill it with the new thing you want. (as you say!)

So in your examples:

For love magic, you might banish habits that make it hard for you to meet new people, or banish old hurts that are getting in the way of making better connections.

For an unsafe situation, you might banish things that are getting the way of you getting out of there safely, and then call in and bless yourself with safety.