Love is not Enough

R E L A T I O N S H I P S | Love. “Love is not enough” was a phrase I heard recently @gender_spectrum conference this past summer and rang in my head after a public argument with a family member. I remember the darkness of the theatre and coolness of the room where I sat as I listened to the presentation and the phrase “love is not enough.” The statement stayed with me. At the time, I was deep in my immersion of the health and wellness space where the exaltations of love and its force for the betterment of everything are everywhere from coaches to yogis, influencers to writers— the dissonance couldn’t have been louder in my head.
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“Love is not enough,” as I regained all my wellness faculties, I remembered what I had learned throughout my career as a therapist—it’s true! It isn’t. Not for a partner, not for a child, not for a friend, or a neighbor, or anyone else. One must also act in the name of love with intention again and again and again. The research @gottmaninstitute have proved this many times over in their work with couples and parents. With couples, their research supports actively getting to know your partner through conversations that elicit details most people would never know. In doing this, you enhance not just your knowledge of your partner but the bond between you. The bond feeds your whole wellbeing—mind, body, and spirit, and that of your partner too. The same can be said with parenting, along with everyone else. The more you know about others (but don’t forget yourself too), the deeper the love with become, the stronger the connection between you, and the better off we will all be. #liveyourwell