Sustainability is the catch phrase of this generation, it means learning how to use current resources in a way that does not harm the future. We hear about this in terms of building homes, cultivating food, and rethinking our natural and energy resources. Basically, we are finally being compelled to listen to the voice of indigenous wisdom to our lives in such a way that we can meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
This wisdom is rarely applied to love, which, I believe is the source of energy from which all else springs. Why then is it so difficult for so many of us to maintain our loving relationships? What skills and insights can we bring to our love relationships to allow them to flourish and sustain our lives into perpetuity? These questions are at the core of the mission of Good Clean Fun- we exist to increase the awareness and experience of love in the world.
We need to begin to appreciate that being in relationship, having a family and history with someone is a precious resource. If we could understand that the huge amounts of trust, time and loving intention that we invest in our early relationships are actually renewable resources, the currency of our future health and well being we may be motivated to create new strategies to maintain them.. Sustaining your relationship with loving words and actions not only keeps your own intimacy vibrant, it becomes a living education of what love is for future generations.
A significant and yet, often misunderstood part of sustaining love is in making love. Sexuality is such a seriously repressed and misrepresented part of our identity and culture, that it is often the place that suffers first when the going gets rough in difficult phases of relationships. This is a shame on several levels- not only because more and more medical studies are supporting strong correlations between better mental and physical health and a strong sex life, but also because human sexuality has a transformative power that heals emotional issues by creating a bond in the deepest parts of ourselves.
Besides all that, Making your love sustainable is fun - good clean fun, in fact.
Our need for love and intimacy is a basic human need, as basic as our need for clean food, water and a decent night’s sleep. In fact, when push comes to shove, I know that I will often sacrifice sleep for love and still wake up feeling better for it. Do your own experiments - Feeling stressed, make love, see if it helps. Feeling under the weather, try a little intimacy - I don’t want to be accused of over simplifying life here, and yet I feel compelled to remind you that human babies who are not physically loved, even if they are provided with their other basic needs, tend not to thrive. There is a baby inside all of us, that needs to be held. Trust the instinct.