Relating...

I would love to say that I am an expert at personal relationships! At the almost-age of 44, who wouldn't like to think that she has mastered something as basic as the personal, intimate relationship? Well, that person is just not me...

I'm better, I'm evolving and I am still determined to continue to challenge myself to stay in the game, but I am so not perfect. I still bumble and stumble and have days where my relating skills are not much better than they were twenty years ago. Other days, I feel like I am SO ready to take on Dr. Phil!

The gift of my fifth decade is that I have an amazing and resilient partner to practice all this relating. Teri is also NOT perfect, but she continues to stay in the game as well. She demands a level of communication and closeness that I have not had before and while we sometimes miss each other on the communication path, we generally swing back around and keep trying until we land. With two peri-menopausal women, the whole "connection" and getting on the same page thing can be especially challenging. We are both trying to adjust to these new grown-up versions of ourselves that seem to be changing as well--we don't always feel like ourselves or know how to put words to what it is we are experiencing.

And yet, we keep trying. I feel incredibly lucky to have a partner who values communication and relatedness as much as I do and yet we still strive to find a common language with which to stay connected.