Three Questions to Ask Before You Leave or Stay in a Relationship
Always remember – the door is open.
A quick update before we begin- I’m in the final stages of editing The Stoic Manual: Meditations on the Art of Living, a collection of 150 Stoic meditations on living well. It’ll be released soon and included free for all Annual and Lifetime members.
Welcome! I started this Relationship series because most people, myself included, tend to compartmentalize instead of integrating what we’ve learned in Stoicism. For example, I may be courageous enough to cut up a person and fix whatever is wrong with them but sometimes when it comes to relationships and handling the delicacies that require an unholy amount of courage- I find myself shying away, which in hindsight, leads to more trouble than I’d have let on. Relationships are one of the hardest places to practice love, good judgement, kindness, patience, duty, and self-discipline. And if it’s relevant to you, that’s why last time we talked about Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person & When Does an Affair Begin?. Let’s get into today’s lesson.
Three Questions to Ask Before You Leave or Stay in a Relationship
“Is there smoke in the house? If it’s not suffocating, I will stay indoors; if it proves too much, I’ll leave. Always remember – the door is open.”―Epictetus
On 25 April 1854, Effie Gray left the London house she had shared with John Ruskin for six years. She told the household she was traveling north to visit her family. But somewhere along the railway line, she handed her father a parcel to send back.
Inside were her wedding ring, her keys, and the account books she had kept as Ruskin’s wife. Effie sent everything back before anyone could persuade her to return.
Ruskin was one of the most famous art critics in England. Effie had spent six years hosting his dinners, travelling with him, sitting for his friends’ portraits, and writing letters home in which she tried to make sense of her life. Their marriage had never been consummated. Yes, for a whole six years, they had never had…