Thought for the Week

Timothy D. Stein, MFT, CSAT

September 29, 2014

Hollywood relationships are not romance – they are mutual captivity.

Hollywood love stories paint lovely pictures of star-crossed lovers who are destined to be together. One or both of the lovers would be miserable without the other. This makes a fun movie. However, when you strip away Hollywood’s rose-colored glasses, you have a very different picture. If one or both of us can’t leave because it would be too painful, we don’t have a mutual, loving relationship. We have mutual captivity. A relationship that deserves to be celebrated is a relationship that neither individual needs but that both individuals continue to choose out of a sense of appreciation and commitment.

Am I obsessed or preoccupied with my relationship? Does anything change if I view my relationship as a choice? What significance does choosing my relationship create?