The Sacred Spaces Between: Finding Wholeness in Relationship

Relationships have been my greatest teachers. In the dance between self and other, I've discovered more about my own patterns, fears, and capacity for growth than in any other arena of life. This territory of connection is where many of my poems originate.

My writing explores what I believe is often overlooked in our conversations about love: the quality of presence we bring to our relationships. It's not just about who we are or who the other person is, but about what happens in that invisible field between us.

In one poem about this co-created space, I explore the metaphor of a bridge: "We build this bridge together, / joining separate shores, / creating something that wasn't there before, / but never erasing the waters that flow beneath." This image has become central to my understanding of healthy connection—not merging to the point of losing ourselves, but building pathways of understanding while honoring the natural separation that exists between any two individuals.

Through years of writing about relationships, I've come to believe that our cultural narratives about love often set us up for disappointment. We're taught to seek completion in another, to find someone who "makes us whole." Yet true healing comes from recognizing that wholeness is our natural state—one we can remember rather than achieve through external validation.

The most profound shift in my relationships came when I stopped seeing them as a means to fill my emptiness and started approaching them as sacred containers for mutual growth. When two people commit to seeing each other clearly—without the distortion of projection or expectation—something magical happens. We become mirrors for each other's highest potential rather than screens for each other's unhealed wounds.

This doesn't mean relationships become easier—often they become more challenging as we release the comfort of old patterns. But they become infinitely more rewarding, more authentic, and more aligned with our deepest values.