For many years in our marriage relationship there was very little true intimacy between my husband and I as we know and feel it today, although at the time we would not have questioned the fact that we were in a loving relationship. We unconsciously measured our level of intimacy on how often we performed the sexual act, which at the time we felt was ‘making love.’
At that time, this mode of loving relationship felt quite normal as my women friends and I frequently shared about how tired we were and we talked about our declining ‘sex lives’ often in a humorous way, without truly feeling the sadness within as a result of this lack of connection. Many of us were in paid employment and had young children and we supported each other in the normality of how we were living.
I remember feeling that if I made an effort to have sex once a week that this would keep our relationship intact, and this type of thinking was supported in many of the women’s magazines and ‘agony aunt’ columns at that time. If we did not have sex often, I could always feel the tension building up in my husband, reflected in his moods and stresses.
To the outsider it looked as though we had a very good and satisfying marriage and on many levels this was true as we both loved each other and were committed to caring and providing a great environment for our children. Unfortunately, at the time we did not understand the importance of truly caring for and loving ourselves, and how pivotal this was in growing our own relationship.
Let’s fast forward now to 15 years later – my husband and I are now living in an amazing loving relationship with each other, which continues to get better and better. We both have a more loving connection and a deeper understanding of ourselves as individuals – and as a couple – and we are always discovering ways to take this deeper, even if at times it is painful for either or both of us to admit to the other the imperfections or unhealthy habits which may surface.
We both have a knowing that intimacy is a deep connection with each other, which allows each of us to explore and expose to the other our own sadnesses and hurts, which we had previously buried, and it was the protecting of these that had kept us from connecting more deeply. This is not about perfection as there is always more to explore, but this exposure has allowed us to experience a joy and togetherness in our relationship that we had not felt before.
The intimate connections we have with each other are across the whole day – from how we greet each other in the morning, supportive texts and calls during the day, walking together, listening in full presence to each other, touching each other as we pass, meaningful eye contact – in fact intimacy is threaded through all of our connections.
We now have a marker in our relationship of what is possible and when we stray from this marker, which we do at times, we are able to bring ourselves back to a point of loving understanding much more quickly. After all, none of us wants to live in a disharmonious way with our partner, even though I, like so many of us, had been told many times over the years that arguing with each other is healthy for a relationship!
With this new understanding, we can feel how in the early days of our marriage that when we had sex it was about seeking relief and solace from the inner emptiness we both were feeling. Without a deeper understanding of self-love and true intimacy, we sought the physical closeness of the sexual act to fill this need, which of course it never did.
Today, making love for us is an extension of the intimate way we have connected during the day and the quality of our relationship is no longer measured by the frequency of this, and the frustrations and tensions around this are no longer present.
We are forever appreciating the loving support and reflections we have from those truly divine counsellors Gabrielle Caplice and Annette Baker, as there is always more to explore and we now both do not hold back from going there.
Published with permission of my gorgeous husband, Peter Campbell.
By Anne Hishon, New Zealand
Further Reading:
One Man’s Experience – ‘To Make Love or Have Sex?’
Sex, Marriage and Children – Have You Got It All?
Sex and Making Love
442 Comments
It is beautiful to have this foundation of love and connection with our partner so when something (hurtful) happens in life or in the relationship we can feel held and understood in dealing with it. A relationship like that is a great playground to learn how to heal and understand.
Anne, you and your partner Peter are going against the trend , the considered norm. Very inspiring to explore bringing true intimacy into your everyday lives and not limiting to the bed room.
Connection and understanding is the basis of a foundational relationship. By us first having this with ourselves and then with our partners and all other relationships. The key is how much are we prepared to be transparent within ourselves to the depths of where we come from.
We assume that as a marriage ages the intimacy levels go down. But this sharing shows how we can continue to deepen our intimacy levels and our relationships in many more ways than physical.
It’s probably true that a lot, if not most, consider a healthy and successful relationship is one that involves frequent sex and that sex is an act that brings relief and a continuing marker that everything is allright. I love how you have shown that this is not it and never can be, that this cannot address our needs, and there is so much more on offer. “We both have a knowing that intimacy is a deep connection with each other, which allows each of us to explore and expose to the other our own sadnesses and hurts, which we had previously buried, and it was the protecting of these that had kept us from connecting more deeply. This is not about perfection as there is always more to explore, but this exposure has allowed us to experience a joy and togetherness in our relationship that we had not felt before.”
Choosing to evolve together asks us to be open and honest with each other, to not let anything come in between the love that we share as a couple and at the same time it is not exclusively for us as we can have the same level of love with and for others.
With the vast array of publications available today, there are so many things which have been reduced to mere function alone without retaining their initial exquisite quality, such as sexual intimacy between consenting partners. How this has become something that magazines think they can write about, is far beyond comprehension, but through their writing and publishing the media have managed to circulate sexual functionality as the normal way to be and to succeed in relationships – for both men and women.
Although many people say that arguing is healthy for your relationship, but the times I have experienced arguing in our relationship I cannot say that they have brought us anything than separation and the unnecessary hurting one another.
Making love is as it says, making love, growing the love in your relationship while having sex is just an animalistic act many people use to give relief like drinking a bear after a stressful day.
Understanding the universe helps us understand ourselves and so others. Where frustration and irritation exist, blinkers to our own divinity are guaranteed to be.
Relationships may still have ups and downs as we develop, Anne, but whenever we return to love, they have an opportunity to grow.
Thank you Anne, you reflect us that there is another way of being in a relationship, one that does not keep us small and contracted by patterns and distractions but support us out of them.
Holding back what we feel allows distance in between us and others in our life. Expressing whilst confronting sometimes ignites our inner fire and has the potential to make things clear.
I have been in a relationship for nearly 20 years and the intimacy has grown, not dwindled, why because we have made healing and having a relationship of meaning with ourselves first and others, a life work, a student of life and we know a relationship not worked on is a relationship that is stunted, we need to grow to blossom. I am also constantly inspired by others who choose, healing and honesty as their way fo life, making it purposeful, I am seeing people all around me, who make this choice, prosper and flourish.
When we make love in our intimate relationships the relationship will prosper and flourish because of the love that is continuously deepening.
Gorgeous Anne, I can feel how the story and the love you both have, grow together as you deepen your relationship with each other. It feels so different from the relationships where there is a plateau of growth and people can champion how everything remains the same. But when there is constant growth and expansion the relationship is not ever left to stagnate.
The intimacy is so much deeper when we introduce love into all the movements and connections during the day.
If you truly want to make life about Love it’s not hard – just keep returning to this in your heart. Then you can’t help but celebrate truth.
Everyday I celebrate the relationship I have with my husband, I always had a tendency to sabotage anything to good, yet with my husband we are still together and although by far not perfect everyday I feel totally blessed to be sharing my life with this amazing man. I know our relationship would not way be the love it is if it was not for the constant inspiration of couples like Serge and Miranda Benhayon and Annette and Gabe. Super super blessed are we to have them in my life.
Very very beautiful Anne, thank you for sharing. What you bring to us all by reflection is so key in all our relationships, that we need to address our hurts and let go our protections and as we do we allow a greater depth in our relationships.
Thank you, Anne, for sharing so openly about the development and deepening of your relationship. This is super supportive and I understand the importance of transparency and honesty in all our interactions as a foundation for intimacy and true connection.
We can compare our life unfavourably and criticise those we share it with or we can bring the grace of God to them and make love with the way that we move. What will you choose?
Beautiful Anne, love is so much greater than we can think of, often still when we do experience love, there are greater depths of love awaiting.. Continously asking us to deepen and expand. How loving is that ?!