I think that it's pretty obvious that all people have a basic need for intimacy. To have love, affection, caring and deep attachment to a friend, lover, spouse, or relative. Whether people want to admit this or not, we all need these kinds of relationships and we suffer when we don't have them or if these kinds of relationships go south.
Some people can benefit from a certain amount of solitude, but loneliness (the feeling of being isolated from desired relationships) can have some serious effects. Feeling lonely can cause higher levels of psychological stress, promote negative emotions, decrease quality of sleep, and lower the levels of antibody response (making you more likely to get sick).
Knowing all of this, isn't it obvious that we all need intimacy, no matter what level it is at, so long as it is true? How much does this increase the importance of marriage? To me, marriage becomes a basic need for humans - in the traditional sense, between a man and a woman. This benefits people on a basic level, and even benefits society.
As a nation (and even in the world) we are not doing very well on this point. Marriage, family, and relationships are failing, and it is effecting everyone - individually and as a nation. We need to wake up and take these relationships seriously; we need to get back to the traditional sense of the family, where marriage was taken seriously and not given up on easily.
An important aspect of this though is understanding relationships; how to improve intimacy and keep relationships going. This, as stated by the hilarious Brother Williams, is the core purpose of the class - understanding and enhancing the quality of intimate relationships. Suddenly not succumbing to the sleep dragging down on my eyelids becomes a lot more important - I want to learn this.
Not only do I want to learn it, but these are some of the things that I expect to hear:
- Relationships are a two way street. I expect for there to be an equal share in the upkeep of the relationship, as it pertains to love, care, attention, communication and everything else. (For me there is a particular emphasis on communication. It really peeves me when this is all one way and I think that this is a cause of a lot of broken relationships - an unequal share in the personal aspects of one another's lives; a lack of understanding).
- Relationships are not a fairy tale. Marriages would last if people realized this - relationships take work. Hard work! I hope to be able to learn some skills on weathering some of the trials that may arise in a marriage or any other intimate relationship that I have.
Intimate relationships are a basic need for all humans, and yet so many of us seem to understand so little about how important they really are and how to maintain and improve such relationships. Hopefully we can wake up and start putting in some honest effort into this aspect of our lives - into all of our intimate relationships.