Good Clean Reads

by Carl Frankel

Love: the word means different things to different people—and different things to the same person at different times.

What’s in a word? Here are some meanings of “love:”

Erotic love. We all know what this one means. It’s what we mean when we say we’re “in love.” It’s “I want to have your babies”–or sometimes just “I want to have your body.” It also tends to burn out over time.

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Today I had a conversation with a long-time investment lawyer about my investment strategy. I have come to recognize in a visceral way how it is impossible to experience fear and gratitude at the same time. Keeping my focus on the wonder and abundance of what I already have is the only thoughts that have any teeth compared with the low-grade anxiety that can catch me like a creeping malaise when I...

By Tammy Nelson, PhD Mirroring, validating, and empathizing are part of the imago dialogue developed by Harville Hendrix, the author of Getting the Love You Want, a book about couple's therapy. The imago technique is a structured method that you can use to talk to each other, enhancing communication. This imago therapy dialogue has worked for thousands of couples around the world. It is a way that may help you to talk about conflict and frustration in your relationship.

by Anastasia Strgar

My mother always told me that what people give to a relationship is never even. It is all in direct proportion to what each partner puts in their own box and that it never looks exactly as it should or comes exactly at the same time. Relationships are all about compromising and about breaking down expectations based on pre-conditioned responses.

Recently, my boyfriend and I...

The first time I learned of the idea of self soothing, I was reading a parenting book and trying to let my first child settle herself to sleep. I was more upset than she was that evening, gripping the door knob, willing myself to not open it and go in to soothe her. Awash in my own inability to self soothe, I cried as she whimpered herself to sleep. That night provided only a glimmer of the power...

“To reach heights, one must stop to help others.”  -Carolyn  Chambers

Our community of Eugene, Oregon lost one of its pioneering leaders on Saturday. For close to eight decades, Carolyn Chamberslead the way in television, film production, real estate and countless community development projects. She spent her life fully invested and, I am proud to say, that Good Clean Love saw her light shine in...

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” – Dr Seuss

 

Sexual desire issues are an integral part of long-term relationships. In the twenty-six years of my own marriage I have visited all sides of the desire fence .Whether it was wanting intimacy more than my partner and not feeling wanted by my partner or not wanting my partner or intimacy at all, each machination was...

by Elizabeth Spannuth

Communication is the name of the game and we are constantly hearing about how important it is to talk to your partner. “Communicating” is not always pleasant. It might be positive, but not necessarily pleasant. Some subjects can be tough or uncomfortable and some things are just hard to hear coming from a loved one. There are tons of relationship experts out there ready to...

By Teagan Shepard

Do you find that, even though you spend a good bit of time with your partner, you just don’t feel that connected anymore? It’s highly likely that quantity doesn’t equal quality for you.

Every so often, and I recommend once a week, do something that both of you enjoy and can connect with. Not sure what to do anymore? Here are a few tips.

Take a hike. Seriously, get out of the...