Y’all I have really been dreading this month’s theme. Not the theme itself, but how to discuss it in a way that wouldn’t leave people running away.
The Make Marriage Happen theme for March is “be intimate.” Obviously, when discussing intimacy in marriage you’re going to talk about sex. And when I think about that, all I hear in my thoughts is the 90s anthem “Let’s Talk About Sex” by Salt-N-Pepa. And then I digress, who wants to hear me talk about sex? It’s too intimate! It’s too private. But it’s also so necessary. Sex is one of the leading causes for marital problems even though it’s meant to be one of the best things about marriage. Why the disconnect?
While I do hope to find a graceful way to discuss sex in marriage, I think there is one important item I hope to express more than anything. Intimacy is not a synonym for sex. Intimacy is about knowing, about being familiar with. While sex is the pinnacle form of intimacy within marriage, I don’t think it should be the only avenue for cultivating intimacy within our marriages. In fact, I think the more intimate we are in other areas of our marriage, the more fulfilling our sex life becomes.
But what I want to explore and discuss more than anything is the true sense of the word “intimacy”. The act of knowing and deeply understanding. Trusting ourselves to each other. To know and be known can be terrifying, and yet intensely beautiful. That is true love isn’t it? to be fully known and still chosen. But I think there is a part of all of us that fears being fully known.
Even as I write this, as I allow myself to be known to you, I’m afraid. But one of my goals this year is to write about things I’m afraid to share. I’m not sharing this for the shock factor or to gain popularity. My hope is that something intensely beautiful will come from me allowing myself to be known. I want to break down the walls I put up in hopes that you’ll be willing to break down yours. I hope someone reading this can relate and find encouragement. To know that we’re not in this alone. Let’s Make Marriage Happen together. And let’s explore ways we can #beintimate in our relationships.
I think you are so brave to speak about something you are afraid to share. I think that’s how you put it. Good for you.
Sex is the pinnacle and/or culmination of intimacy in marriage- Agreed.
Oddly enough, I see an interesting correlation with someone who has a sexual addiction (i.e. Pornography) would be labeled by psychologists and Counselors as having an “intimacy disorder.”
Sex is just like fire. In the right context, a committed monogamous marriage bed with intimate connection leading up to consummation, sex is like a fire in the fireplace in mid January. It warms, glows, and exhibits beauty. But let a spark, an ember, a coal out onto the curtains and the house is ablaze and a home is in smoldering ruins. Sex is the outward expression of true intimacy and happens after genuine connection, honest communication, & being known/chosen. Ideally sex is an out working of pre-existing intimacy NOT a way to search out and create it. In other words, I connect with my spouse, and we relate sexually to connect even further and bond spiritually/physically/emotionally.
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