School’s out and our recently licensed 17 year-old son jumped in his car and drove 6 hours to spend an undetermined amount of time to hang out with friends and cousins. Powered by youth, freedom and independence he pulled out of the driveway leaving me in a wake of shock, awe, and a whole lot of “how did I get here?”

 

Of course the parent-child relationship has these inevitable thresholds that we all traverse as they move from complete dependence to self-reliance, and our relationship evolves from care-giver to gracefully releasing them with our unwavering love for who they are continually becoming (well… that’s what it looks like on a good day anyway 😉

 

It struck me that we don’t have this same type of consistent pressure in our long term relationships. Sure, there are big life transitions that we must navigate, but for the most part, we seem to seek a comfortable place, and kinda want to stay there… a bit complacent… we are not so keen to rock the boat or reinvent ourselves, question our identity and our partner’s identity. We trade in the inevitable evolution, adventure and excitement in favour of safety, stability and predictability.

 

This week’s vlog is about how we can start to let go of who we have become and open up to a more expansive and fulfilling life and relationship. J