Tactics for Relationships in Quarantine

This episode of the Tim Ferris podcast with Psychotherapist Esther Perel was very timely and enlightening. Perel shares templates for navigating the tactically challenging situations that relationships might be facing at this moment in time, as well as phrases for deepening the conversation with loved ones. For example, with those who are prone to answering “great” when you ask how they are doing, a good follow up question would be “how are you sleeping?” This is a wake-up call for me because I am one of those people who feels like I am not allowed to complain when there is a lot to be grateful for, but in her words, “You can feel humble, you can feel thankful to things, but you can’t feel great in this moment because if you’re feeling great in this moment, you’re detached. You’re disconnected.” And that warrants a moment of acknowledgement. Another tip I pulled from this that was inspired by a past episode with Brené Brown was to each morning give your partner a heads up of where your emotional/energy level is at with a percentage of how full your tank is. So if I don’t sleep well or am feeling cranky, I will let my husband know I’m at 20%, so please tread lightly. — CD