Capturing Life's Beauty Through Daily Routines

In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, it can be easy to overlook the beauty that surrounds us. From the vibrant hues of a sunrise to the delicate details of a blooming flower, there is beauty to be found in even the simplest of moments. Capturing these fleeting moments through a daily routine of being in love can not only help us cherish and remember the beauty in our lives but also improve our affection skills and provide motivation to others.

The different phases of relationship.

Long-term relationships can be intimidating, and even between the best match, the road to love has its ups and downs. Such growing pains are reflected in a phenomenon known as “the seven stages of love.” These seven stages of relationship development are a challenging yet necessary part of any long-term romantic connection.

Infatuation: The infatuation stage is where you are smitten with each other, followed by the accommodation stage, where you get to know each other.

This is the "honeymoon phase," where you're head over heels in love with your special someone. You're obsessed with their smile, their laugh, their very existence. It's intense, exciting, and...temporary.

This is what most people think of when they imagine young love. The birds are chirping, the glass is half full, and the “love” chemicals (such as dopamine and phenylethylamine) are flowing, making you feel happy, invincible, and like you’re on top of the world. This stage often begins on the first date, and it ends the day that you see your person of interest for who they really are (good or bad). To move past this honeymoon stage, don’t allow the “high” to cloud your judgment about the person you’re dating. That is to say, don’t let it enchant you into staying with an incompatible partner. Many broken hearts have their roots in a dysfunction from this stage, belonging to lovers who missed or ignored the writing on the wall.

How to Survive: The intimacy stage usually starts from the first date up until before your first fight. During this stage, you might only see the good parts of your partner. So ask yourself if you really are compatible with each other, or is it just the passionate fresh love clouding your judgment. 

Discovery:

During the second stage, the attraction and intimacy slowly fade as the love chemicals start to dry up. You discover bad habits, strange quirks, and opposing points of view with the person you love during this stage. The first year of the relationship is the hardest stage, and even when you’re living together, you still discover new things about each other every day.

However, more often than not, this will be a discouraging time. As relationships wear on, the love chemicals in the brain begin to dry up — along with your perfect perceptions of the person you were with. An individual you once thought was flawless is actually human, complete with strange quirks, bad habits, and views that are different from your own.

How to Survive: The key to getting past the discovery stage is also discovery. The discovery of your partner’s imperfections and your imperfections as well. This is the stage where you try to discover how to make your imperfections work. 

Commitment and Communication:

As you get past the discovery stage, compromise with your partner happens. This stage offers security and confidence that you’re with the right person, and you’ll find yourself settling down into a committed relationship. And you feel secure and confident with the person you love. During the commitment stage, you may get too complacent. This is where the boredom and monotony of a relationship arises. 

How to Survive: As you learn to commit to one another, learn how to have open communication as well. Be open to what you feel, and learn to listen to your partner’s needs. When you feel bored, try to come up with new things to do. Relationships are a reflection of growth; when it’s stagnant, there’s no personal growth happening.

Conflict:

Occasionally, once a couple has really dedicated themselves to each other, they may eventually find themselves lapsing into conflict. They may even end up in a power struggle. In stage three, you are working on your partnership. However, in stage four, all involved parties will be rediscovering their individuality and ability to control the relationship.

Who takes the lead of the relationship? Should someone really take the lead? During this part of the relationship, there are power struggles on who makes the decision. The goal here is for each partner to have roughly equal levels of “influence” in the relationship. For instance, maybe you’ve picked up fishing because your partner enjoys it, but now you’d like them to do some of the things you love.

How to Survive: To survive the fourth stage, you should know how to respect each other’s decisions. You learn to discover your individual differences and have mutual respect. During this stage, you should be able to rediscover the things you loved when you were single.