Although there are small chances of two or more identical couples existing in the universe, there are certain behaviouristic patterns that people tend to follow -- and, therefore, there do tend to be intimacy stages in a relationship between two people. Within the grief process, according to the Kübler-Ross model, we have denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (these stages do not always happen in this particular order: we may have anger, then denial, then acceptance, then bargaining, and then depression — then circling back around to acceptance). Grief and intimacy seem to be made of the same fabric — the intensity, the dullness, the gains, and the loss all mirror one another. So, we present you the 5 stages of intimacy.
Infatuation: "Oh my God, I just met the love of my life." "He is perfect. I want to marry him." "I can't believe we have so much in common." "I cannot wait to see her again."
Oh, the sweet, syrupy stage of infatuation. It's so wonderful and so difficult to resist. Hormones and logic rarely coincide, so we find ourselves doing things like checking email 12-24 times an hour, not eating, going to get our nails done at midnight, buying pajamas to match our bedsheets...
Infatuation makes your dopamine levels soar, producing a full-body euphoria that causes humans to seek out sex again and again. To wit, brain scan studies show that the brain during orgasm is 95 percent the same as the brain on heroin. Your brain cannot, biologically, maintain the high of infatuation: You will fry. The infatuation will ebb and flow at different points. The sex will not always be that good ... it may get better, or it may get worse. But all those lovely feelings of that first initial swim in the cool crisp pond of falling in love: How many movies could we watch about that? Billions. It's pure poetry. Love magnified; a revisit to the warm womb of security. Then, the negotiation between security and autonomy, that life-long struggle, crawls in and we begin to land.
Landing: The landing from that fantastic flight can be the scariest part. We see things a lot more clearly. There is a great article in Psychology Today along the lines of, "The day you wake up and say you have married the wrong person is the day that your marriage truly begins." Meaning, this is the day where the veil of infatuation has lifted and the 20/20 vision of everyday living comes in. "Wow, she is neurotic." "He tells the worst jokes." "I didn't think about him at all yesterday. I hope we are okay." The landing can be light and sweet, or rocky and discombobulating. But eventually the clock strikes midnight and Cinderella must run home before the stage coach becomes a pumpkin and her dress returns to rags. Landing! Oy, so bittersweet.
Burying: This stage happens when all the to-do lists of life come toppling into the relationship and before you know it, conversations are focused on things like who's doing the laundry, your boss, or the crazy mother-in-law. During the burying stage, other things — like, oh, life — begin to encroach on your beautiful oasis of a relationship. Burying is not always bad; it's a sign that the relationship is real and weaves into your everyday existence. The important thing to remember here is to "unbury" yourselves. Go relive your first date, do something crazy (or inappropriate)... Do something that allows real life to take a break and the gentle, sweet intimacy to resurface, bringing us to the next stage.
Resurfacing: Resurfacing is the stage where you turn to your partner, and say to yourself, "Oh! I forgot how hot he is," or "She is stunning," or "I love him so much." Resurfacing is the resolution of a relationship: "She is a mixed bag, but so am I." And you start thinking things like: "I can't wait for our next date." "I can't believe I have such a sweet person in my life, who always has my back." It can be triggered by a massive problem that you two resolved, a great date, an especially good night of intimacy, or almost losing the other person. Anything can jolt us awake; maybe a death in the family or even a birth. And then we hit the last stage.
Love: This is what it's really all about, right? The part where we look across the dinner table, fight over the remote, or go on a great trip and think ... "Oh, I have it really good." "I am blessed." "I love him/her more than I could ever imagine." Here, the sex is (usually) better than it has ever been. True love blossoms around year five. The rest is a rotation — sometimes rapid and sometimes slow — of the other stages.
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