A friend and I have had a couple of beautiful conversations this week, and I feel closer to him then I ever have. I’ve wanted this sort of relationship, but didn’t know how to have it or when, if ever, it was going to happen.
The content of the talks was about my feelings. It’s so easy when I feel raw to try to foist my bad feelings on the other person. But I’ve learned from good role models that there is power in vulnerability. When I take complete responsibility for how I feel, this sets the other person free to say whatever is there for them.
The result is intimacy. One of the truly great and effective places to learn about intimacy and to practice it is in the workshops run by the Human Awareness Institute. .
I like this quote, attributed to Jane Austen:

“It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;– it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.”