In everyday life there are always opportunities to honor both separateness and togetherness. Often one person in a relationship feels one emotion more than the other. In matters of the soul it is advisable never to compensate or to try to escape but instead to tend better the very thing that is causing trouble. A person in a marriage who is longing for freedom, finding marriage too limiting and confining, might best avoid the temptation to flee and instead work at re-imaging marriage and partnership. His notion of marriage is likely too limited and therefore painful in the living of it…Honor both intimacy and solitude…Thomas Moore

Some partners feel threatened whenever their partner either explicitly or implicitly seeks space or time away. While too much time apart can potentially be a stumbling block to intimacy and the overall health of the relationship, time apart need not be interpreted as a threat to the relationship but rather an opportunity for our relationship and the needs of our soul to expand itself beyond our individual limitations. I am not suggesting we seek solace in the arms of another but am suggesting that we may find nurturing powers within ourselves which sometimes can only be discovered during times of individual solitude. While our partners are a potential wellspring where our souls drink on a regular basis no partner can adequately meet all our deepest needs and therefore we should never place on our partners the burden of meeting all our needs.