Summer is a break in the action. Whether it be an ocean, a lake, or just my own swimming pool \u2013 something about summer is like breathing in fresh life.\u00a0 Perhaps part of this effect is due the interruption in the \u2018normal\u2019 routine.\u00a0 My wife, Ann, would be the first to tell you that \u2018normal\u2019 and \u2018routine\u2019 aren\u2019t my strengths.\u00a0 \u00a0Because of that, we\u2019ve had to learn to talk \u2013 a lot! \u2013 in order to keep our marriage in good shape.\u00a0 This summer we spent several days reading a book together, on a dock, on a lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.\u00a0 The book stimulated great discussion about the ways we grew up, the kinds of messages we tell ourselves (deep, deep down inside), and the ways we \u2018do\u2019 our marriage.\u00a0 We had great times laughing, shedding a few tears, and renewing our attraction for one another.<\/p>\n
Summer can often provide more free time and more opportunity to focus on relationships. Fortunately, \u2018summer\u2019 in relationships doesn\u2019t have to come only during the three months between May and September.\u00a0 We can create summers in our relationships throughout the year.\u00a0 I hope this summer brought new perspective for you and your partner, but if not, take time in the next couple weeks to find time to be together\u2014and do something to help you think in new ways about how you \u2018do\u2019 your relationship.\u00a0 How can you think in new ways?\u00a0 Read a book, watch a provocative film, visit a new state or country, go to a political discussion\u2014it doesn\u2019t matter so much what<\/em> you do, as it does that you do it together, and talk about it, and let it move you out of your relationship comfort zone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summer is a break in the action. Whether it be an ocean, a lake, or just my own swimming pool \u2013 something about summer is like breathing in fresh life.\u00a0 Perhaps part of this effect is due the interruption in the \u2018normal\u2019 routine.\u00a0 My wife, Ann, would be the first to tell you that \u2018normal\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/relationshipart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/relationshipart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/relationshipart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/relationshipart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/relationshipart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/relationshipart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264,"href":"http:\/\/relationshipart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/relationshipart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/relationshipart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/relationshipart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}