Relationships

Relationships

"My kids are so invested in their children it's beautiful! They use gentle parenting techniques, even with challenging personalities; provide them with healthy outlets and nurture their friends as well. They're 100% better than I was - but I had to do it alone with five children. I'd choose my kid's parenting over mine, every time!" - Anne W.

Love doesn't always come naturally; many of us need guidance about how to feel love and express it. There are many ways we can, consciously or not, block the experience of loving and being loved. Deep-seated fears of being hurt, used, or deceived often stop us from accepting love. Acknowledging that these fears are normal is the first step to overcoming them.

We recently participated in a weekend symposium focused on the intersections of imagination, neuroscience, art, and psychedelics at the UC San Diego Imaginarium. Viewing our couples' therapy work from this perspective was exciting and inspiring, and it reaffirmed something we have always known: The couples that stay vibrant, resilient, and deeply connected are the ones that remain curious about each other and creative and imaginative about their relationship. They don't just love one another. They are present and mindful, and they imagine and play together.

Even if it's cold, and even if you're so tired, you should still trudge out the door to meet your friends, go on the date, get to the workout class, or whatever else you have scheduled. The King of Pentacles has a reliable, steady energy, which is especially helpful if your New Year's resolutions are starting losing steam. Be kind to yourself in the days ahead, and treat others the same way. Everyone says they want a close-knit community, but you actually need to show up in order to create it.

By that point in my 50s, I struggled to maintain an erection naturally but it never diminished her enthusiasm in bed, or mine. For me, orgasming is just one small part of sex; with the right person, just being naked together is pure joy. Growing up with a single mother in the 1950s, I did not learn much about sex at home and I lost my virginity at university to the girl I ended up marrying.

When I met my husband eight years ago, I knew he was churchy, but as a low-church Protestant, I thought this wouldn't be a problem. Outside church, I am comfortable with our religious differences. I sort of believe in God, and find immense spirituality in nature, but think Christ was simply a good man, whereas my husband believes it. He respects my beliefs and has never imposed his on me.

You'll have enough people to talk to at your wedding. Just invite her. Not doing so would send a message so aggressive, it would likely create ongoing problems in the family and isolate you and your husband. It's hard for me to tell if she is being intentionally rude or if she's shy or something else entirely. But you do point out that she'll respond to you when asked a question, so it doesn't sound like she's being intentionally cruel.

My wife is invited to the wedding, but I am not, and I am furious. The groom's family is paying for the trip, and they say I am not invited for financial reasons. I don't have a great relationship with my daughter. But that isn't the point. I told my wife that if the roles were reversed and she was excluded, I would not go. This may be a deal-breaker for me.

I'm devastated and don't know where to turn. I was expecting a proposal from my boyfriend over Christmas, but instead he told me he wasn't sure if he wanted to still be together. He's moved back to his parents' house, and we have barely spoken since. I'm so angry, but I also know I would take him back in a heartbeat. I don't know what to do.

"Sara" is a close friend who suffers from significant mental health challenges. She is often sullen, easily offended, and quick to anger. Recently, she had a severe meltdown (which was never discussed), cut me off completely, and didn't speak to me for months. We patched that one up somehow, but her behavior is frequently challenging to the point where I question whether our friendship is worth it.

A stag or hen do should be a straightforward, fun night celebrating a good friend moving into a new chapter of their life. Instead, thanks to films such as The Hangover and Bridesmaids, as well as the general Americanisation of what a bachelor or bachelorette party should be, we've ended up with too many overindulgent, wildly inconvenient and quite frankly underwhelming send-offs to our friends who are getting married. Somewhere along the way, they've morphed into three-day tests of stamina and disposable income.

I've been financially responsible my entire adult life, and while I don't want to see debt as a dealbreaker, and I wouldn't break up with him over it, a part of me wants nothing to do with his debt. Also, I worry about what this says about his financial habits.

An explorationship is when you and someone else are exploring the possibility of a committed relationship. You've gone a little-or maybe a lot-beyond the just-going-out-on-dates-with-each-other phase. There may already be kissing and holding hands. There may already be couple-ish things that you do together. There may even be a little bedroom rodeo stuff or a lot of it. But you still aren't quite ready to call each other a significant other yet-even though the two of you are giving such a possibility significant consideration.

I'm no judge but there seems to be a lot of hearsay happening here. The neighbor who gave you the warning was vague in a way that perhaps suggests discretion, but in reality, only muddies the waters. Either say something helpful (and objectively true) or say nothing at all; a blanket warning hews too close to gossip for my taste. If you want to be friends with this other neighbor, trust your judgment and proceed with caution, just as you would with anyone else.

Many studies show that most women don't care much about the length or girth of men's penises, either flaccid or erect. But men don't believe it. Sex educators talk themselves hoarse about this, but many men still crave huge ones, and many opt for enlargement pills (all frauds) or for costly surgery that might leave them deformed. A recent study explored women's preferences for dildos, penis-mimicking sex toys.

Your comfort zone is challenged in all the right ways this morning as Venus in steady Capricorn links up with wild card Uranus. This brings surprising fluctuations to your love life or overall priorities. Sometimes, you need a small dose of this unexpected to push you toward decisions that will benefit you in the long run. Don't resent the disruption; focus on what it's teaching you about your needs and values.

Knowing when to leave a relationship is not a dramatic moment of collapse. More often, it is a quiet reckoning. A slow accumulation of truth. People imagine that leaving happens because love disappears or conflict explodes. In reality, many people leave because the daily effort of holding themselves together inside the relationship becomes weightier than the fear of being alone.

The next day, Bill said he'd drop her off at the airport, and we used her car for the journey since it could fit all her luggage in. It was a favour to her, and she was very grateful. However, when she got home three weeks later, she called to tell us that she had a parking ticket at home, because we didn't pay the airport's drop-off charge when we arrived.

It may be time to have a different conversation with your friend. Perhaps she is having memory problems. See if you can cite at least three instances when your friend has recounted a different version of a story to you than you remember. Tell her that you are concerned about her memory, and give her these examples as evidence. Know that she is likely to push back. Tell her anyway.

The five apology languages were coined by Gary Chapman, author of The 5 Love Languages, andclinical psychologist Dr. Jennifer Thomas, Chapman's co-author of The 5 Apology Languages. In the same way that love languages are meant to describe how a person might recognize love when it's given to them, apology languages can help partners understand what it is about an apology that makes it feel genuine to the person they love.

Last night I had a dream and you were in it, and I was in it with you. I was doing the packing I never did. Not sure how it started, that's how dreams go. But I was nervous that you might show up. Just like you were nervous I'd be there. Eventually you did show up, but your head was buzzed and dyed orange.

But the start of another trip around the sun may spark a desire for new beginnings beyond the confines of the gym. It might be the perfect time to reevaluate your love life. The first Sunday in January, which has been dubbed " Dating Sunday," is the busiest time of year for dating apps. It's not all that surprising, as the new year is a time when people feel motivated to set goals for themselves. In this case, many singles are hunkering down and getting serious about finding a partner.

There is something strangely refreshing about the new year. Perhaps it's the sense that time coheres into a neat box, or the psychological appeal of getting a brand-new start. Culturally, humans have an intuitive understanding that the new year is a time for stock-taking. In matters of the heart, this seasonal pause offers an opportunity to recalibrate with a spirit of intentionality. Couples that succeed are the ones that regularly have honest conversations.