Is love an addiction In the early days of a new romance, it's oh so easy to let friends, work and other areas of your life fall by the wayside as you spend all of your time focused on your new love. In many ways, this all-consuming love can be a lot like an addiction, with each condition characterized by a lack of control, or even a sense of obsession. When psychiatrist Donatella Marazziti studied the brain chemistry of people in love, she found that the levels of serotonin in their brains were much lower than normal [source: BBC]. Fortunately, when Marazziti tested the same subjects a year later, she found that serotonin levels had returned to normal for the couples involved in her study. Of course, this doesn't mean that relationships can't last well past the one-year mark. But what about those who can't seem to find love that lasts?
The Smiley Book of Colors By Maria Popova When Freud came to believe he was going to die between the ages of 61 and 62, and subsequently began seeing the two numbers everywhere he looked, which only intensifying the urgency of his superstition, he came to observe the value of selective attention in focusing the unconscious. But what if we engineered this selective attention purposefully and aligned it with our emotional and mental well-being? That’s exactly what photographer, children’s author, and educator Ruth Kaiser did in 2008, when she began seeing smiley faces everywhere she turned. For the past four years, she has been collecting and sharing photographs “found” everyday smileys in the Spontaneous Smiley Project — an exercise in self-induced feel-goodness, inviting others to upload their own photos and donating $1 for each uploaded photo to Operation Smile, which provides free surgeries to children born with cleft lip and cleft palate. Skeptical, still?
31 Ways To Know You're In The Right Relationship As anyone living in the age of depressing divorce rates knows, a happy long-term couple is almost like a unicorn: If by some miracle you encounter it, you can't stop staring, and you have a feeling no one will ever believe you when you tell them you saw it. The Internet is filled with articles on how to decide when to end it, how to recognize when your relationship is toxic, codependent, one-sided, stagnant, asexual, manipulative. But we don't talk all that often about what defines a happy relationship. Picture it: You're dating someone new. You're waiting to feel the toxic stagnant codependency. To help you answer that question, you lucky thing, here's a completely unscientific list of 31 ways to know you're in the right relationship: You don't... 1. If you're afraid of commitment, best to work that out before you put yourself in a situation where it's hoped you'll eventually commit. 2. 3. If no one's hiding anything, why are you looking? 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.
Love Fitness: Are You in Shape for Your Next Relationship? by Joy Nordenstrom, CMM, MBA | The Toolbox at LisaKiftTherapy.com As you jump into your workout, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, you are definitely on the right track—you are taking care of yourself, your body. This is an excellent step in becoming ready for love. As a certified matchmaker and love coach, I constantly hear the laundry list of what people want in a partner. More often than not, the list includes someone who takes care of himself or herself inside and out, is attractive, emotionally secure, thoughtful and interesting. The following are three vital secrets I begin with as I work with my clients to help them find and maintain a juicy, thriving relationship. Fill up your inner joy. Think of yourself as a rechargeable battery. What makes you feel fabulous, stunning, creative, delicious? By filling yourself up, you come to the relationship not expecting your partner to fill you up. Cultivate a curious mind. This is key to being interesting and interested. Be authentically interested in your date.
Holstee | The Holstee Manifesto Poster 📦 Shipping All domestic orders over $75 ship free and all domestic orders under $75 have the option for $7 flat rate shipping. For weekday orders placed before 4PM EST we typically pack and ship the same day. Shipping prices for international orders depend on which products you choose and shipping location: this is calculated at checkout. International orders are subject to delays and import fees through customs and vary by location. 🚚 Returns Goods bought from Holstee are meant to make you smile. If you're not completely satisfied, you changed your mind, or the product arrives damaged just let us know what’s going on and we’d be happy to help you with a return or exchange! Any other questions? 20 Ways to Say I Love You | Tivate.com - StumbleUpon First time visiting Tivate? Then make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed before you leave. Thanks for visiting! [article] There’s more ways to say I love you without actually saying it. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. NOTE: If you enjoyed this post check out the follow-up 20 “Real Life” ways to say I Love You and 20 ways to Propose. [SU::darrylheron] [sources] “Those three words,” – ashleyRosex on Flickr [Online Images] “sweetheart” – youngdoo on Flickr [Online Images] “Love on Pier 14″ – Red Giraffe on Flickr [Online Images] “a hearty sandwich” – Rakka on Flickr [Online Images] “the healing touch” – drumtoo on Flickr [Online Images] “Lucy wins monopoly” – all the good names have gone on Flickr [Online Images] “Above Pacific” – a3rO on Flickr [Online Images] “19:00″ – Fanny Lafontaine on Flickr [Online Images] “190108″ – vaquerito on Flickr [Online Images] “elderly couples” – tin-zo on Flickr [Online Images] “your present” – youngdoo on Flickr [Online Images]
Buddha Buzz: Black Friday, Gray Mice, and White Wives Black Friday is upon us. And as we've come to expect with the arrival of our favorite American holiday, there have been huge sales, massive crowds, and the trampling of workers and pregnant women. Actually, those tramplings occurred three years ago. This year, the American public has moved on to a more popular method of violence: pepper spray. An unidentified woman at a Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch, California, pepper sprayed other customers in an attempt to keep them away from the merchandise she wanted. One wonders if she had been inspired by the UC Davis cop. Stories like these make me want to throw my hands up in despair. Nathan Thompson from Dangerous Harvests has some further thoughts: What I see in the folks buying cheap flat screen TVs, ugly sweaters, ties, useless plastic nick-nacs is a failure to experience love. This band, for one, thinks our culture is a "destitute hell" (from their lyrics).
Going Solo: A Brief History of Living Alone and the Enduring Social Stigma Around Singletons by Maria Popova “Despite its prevalence, living alone is one of the least discussed and, consequently, most poorly understood issues of our time.” In the 4th century BC, Aristotle admonished: The man who is isolated, who is unable to share in the benefits of political association, or has no need to share because he is already self-sufficient, is no part of the polis, and must therefore be either a beast or a god. Indeed, the ancient world held exile as the most formidable form of punishment, second only to execution, though in Greek tragedies it was often regarded as a fate worse than death. The nuclear family is a universal human social grouping. Yet our relationship with solitary life has undergone a radical shift in the recent past. Until recently, most of us married young and parted only at death. Klinenberg paints an even more vivid picture by the numbers: In 1950, 22 percent of American adults were single. Klinenberg puts it thusly: Donating = Loving Share on Tumblr
Top Ten Reasons Sex is Good for You - EmpowHER.com - StumbleUpon Okay, we know that sex is fun, but guess what? It’s good for you too! The top ten healthy benefits of good sex are even backed up by experts, researchers and scientists: 1. Sex can lower blood pressure and reduce stress. 2. Good sexual health can mean better physical health. 3. Thirty minutes of sex burns around 85 calories. 4. Women who have more sex tend to have higher levels of estrogen, which protects against heart disease. 5. Researchers at the University of Texas found that a self-esteem boost was one of 237 reasons people have sex. 6. Orgasm and having sex increases levels of oxytocin, the so-called love hormone. 7. As the hormone oxytocin surges, endorphins increase and pain decreases. 8. Bring on the Kegels! 9. According to researchers, oxytocin released during orgasm also helps you catch more z’s.
The Neuroscience of Romanticized Love – Part 1: Emotion Taboos | Neuroscience and Relationships True love is an act of will that often transcends ephemeral feelings of love…it is correct to say, ‘Love is as love does.’” ~ SCOTT PECK Romanticized ideals for love, and romantic love that leads to long term healthy companionship love with all the trimmings, produce two dramatically different outcomes. Many of the futile attempts of partners to get the love they want in their couple relationships today have to do with “romanticized love” ideals, infused into Western society during the Middle Ages. Whereas romantic attraction may form the basis of initiating an interpersonal bond from which authentic love is a possibility, in and of itself, romanticized love defines love in a way that puts each person’s fulfillment in the hands of the other, thus, sparking an obsessive, watchful focus on the other as a love object, a potential setup for addictive relating, love and sex addiction. A few decades ago the idea of love as an addiction seemed absurd and controversial. “Love is not a feeling.
New Collection Of 35 Creative Photos This is a fresh collection of 35 creative photos that will fuel up your creativity. When you are out of idea its always great and helpful to see some professional work to inspire you to do better. 7 Vital Choices for Happy Relationships | Tiny Buddha: Wisdom Quotes, Letting Go, Letting Happiness In - StumbleUpon “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ~Lao Tzu Ten years ago I thought I was going to marry my college sweetheart and become a young bride, which made it all the more devastating when happily ever after didn’t pan out. When we broke up, I felt literally like I lost a limb, complete with phantom sensations of his hand in mine. It didn’t take long for a dark guilt to bubble up—a constant festering reminder of all the mistakes I’d made. In the ruins of that romance, I didn’t know what scared me more: that someone else might hurt me again or that I might hurt them enough first to deserve it. I simultaneously felt an aching need to fill in the hole where he’d been and an overwhelming sense of nausea at the thought of being with someone else. In each case, I either burdened the guy with a body bag full of my fears and insecurities, or dragged it around myself wondering why dating felt so exhausting. 1. Take it off the page: 2. 3. 4. 5.
The Neuroscience of Relationship Breakups "...Loves me, loves me not" An unexpected and unwanted breakup can cause considerable psychological distress. People report feeling as if they have been kicked in the stomach or blindsided and knocked down. Feelings of rejection and self-doubt are common, as is the feeling of being stuck and unable to let go, even when one wants to. B reakups and the Brain The research on relationship breakups in unmarried people (generally college students) gives us some clues as to why these events are so subjectively painful. fMRI of the brain during a breakup Our brains appear to process relationship breakups similarly to physical pain. Obsessive Thoughts & "Cravings" People who have recently been rejected by their partners often develop obsessive thinking. Recent research provides some suggestion that there may be physiological basis to these "cravings" for the ex-partner. Hope and Resilience Is there anything we can learn from these findings to help people deal with painful breakups.