The Fear of Endings and the Pull of the Unknown
The Door of Knowing and the Unknown
February 7, 2024
dialogue

The Fear of Endings and the Pull of the Unknown

El miedo a los finales y la atracción de lo desconocido

A question about navigating doubt and attraction in a committed relationship, and the fear of endings rooted in early experiences of divorce.

The Fear of Endings and the Pull of the Unknown

A question about navigating doubt and attraction in a committed relationship, and the fear of endings rooted in early experiences of divorce.

I'm currently in a relationship that's the healthiest one I've ever been in. It's with someone who's very securely attached and grounded within herself. We have really good communication and chemistry. It's been a vehicle for a lot of personal growth and has challenged a lot of my avoidant tendencies. By and large, I feel happy, and there's a stability to it that feels refreshing, but it's not stale. It's growthful.

And yet I sometimes have a feeling that this isn't quite the thing that's going to endure. That feeling comes and goes.

Do you think it's going to endure?

It's more of a worry, a fear that it's going to end. There was a lot of divorce in my family growing up, so I think I carry a fear of relationships ending and the pain of that. And simultaneously there's a guilt: if I'm a part of that process, then I'm doing something wrong, I'm being bad.

The fear and guilt loop

I feel like that fear and guilt on my part can play into the corresponding fear on the part of whoever I'm dating. The beauty of the relationship I'm in now is that we can talk about all of that. I've had the experience multiple times of being scared to bring something up, and because of our relational capacity, it ends up resulting in increased intimacy and joy. It seeds the next phase of the relationship. So it feels like a good thing.

A new encounter

I met someone a few months ago. We've hung out in person twice and had a couple of phone calls, but there was an immediate ease and attraction. It came with this spontaneous sense of opening into the unknown.

It just feels like you're already meditating when you hang out.