ON Relationships and love

I believe being in an intimate, connected and committed relationship is one of the most difficult things to do on the planet. Divorce rates in California have been estimated to be as high as 60%.

In my Master's in Social Work coursework at University of Southern California, one of my favorite courses was Couples Therapy -- the interplay of seen and unseen dynamics, complexity of internal and external factors on the relationship, historical intimate relationships playing out in the present. Relationships are as fascinating as they are challenging.

One of the biggest challenges in my own marriage has been cultivating a shared story that carves a path of true North. Esther Perel's Where Shall We Begin has been incredibly helpful in seeing my marriage, and all of my intimate relationships, differently.

I think her ability to highlight the shared stories of humanity and relationship are so calming and reassuring, they bring us to a place of sameness, safety and support. From NPR, quote is specific to her new book on infidelity:

When you pick a partner, you pick a story, and that story becomes the life you live. ... And sometimes you realize, after years of living those parts of you, that there are other parts of you that have virtually disappeared. The woman disappeared behind the mother. The man disappeared behind the caregiver. The sensual person disappeared behind the responsible person.
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And there is an expression of longing and yearning. Longing for connection, for intensity, for a sense of "aliveness," which is really the word that many people all over the world would tell me when they are having an affair. They don't talk about sex and excitement and titillation, actually. ... What they say is they feel alive — as in vibrant, vital; as in a reclaiming of something that had gotten lost.

I highly recommend listening to Perel's podcast as a portal to seeing you and your relationship differently. As an entry into the podcasts, as a self-defined heterosexual, hypermasculine male, I found Season One, Episode Five and Season One, Episode Seven to be most relevant.

Happy listening!

Learn more about my Cognitive Behavioral Therapy psychotherapy practice. 

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