This is a guest article from Jason Garner: www.JasonGarner.com
In a class I took once on deepening the connection of romantic relationships, the teacher said, “In over 30 years of working with couples I have found only one thing that women want from their men: presents.”
“Great,” I thought. “A Gucci purse should do the trick.”
Except the teacher had said “presence,” not presents.
Another one of my teachers told me there is always truth in jest. That humorous story, while charming and cute, is also a realistic portrayal of much of my relationship history. I used material presents to compensate for my lack of physical, emotional, and spiritual presence in the relationship.
Why? Because Hallmark told me to, that’s why. More jest, and more truth.
As a man I have been bombarded since birth with images of what it means to be manly.
A knight in shining armor. So I rescued damsels in distress and then wondered why I felt disconnected.
An emotional rock. So I bottled up my feelings and felt misunderstood and unloved.
While it's not exactly news to people with functioning brains, it's still good to see hard evidence that war is not the answer. From the Washington Post:
In today’s world, we’re connected to people in ways like never before. In the early days of language, we just tried to understand each others’ body language. But now, we can improve upon how we act and communicate with others. Here are 9 behaviors that you should avoid doing – they push people away!
