First Stage: This is ego-based. We all need to go through this stage in early childhood in order to know what we like and don’t like. It is important to go through separation from our givers to develop our own sense of self. However, the “self” is still immature and more concerned with personal needs rather than sharing or connecting to “all”. In relationships it is about is about what you can do for me. It is about controlling another or being controlled.  This might be the macho man and submissive housewife relationship. The relationship is about codependence or how you complete me.

Second Stage: This could be woman who develops her own career and no longer depends on a man. It could be the man who goes on a sabbatical and develops his spiritual self. They are seeking to feel complete or develop a part of themselves that they have never experienced. They seek harmony and compromise. In relationships they form boundaries in order to function without creating confrontation.  They might be more interested in creating a partnership to raise kids. There might not be much sexual attraction because their energies have either shifted out of balance or they have diffused each other because of their complacency. Read more...