Connection with Partner

This journaling exercise can be completed by you and your partner or by yourself. 

If you’re completing the exercise with a partner, answer the questions separately. If by yourself, feel free to share your responses with a close friend/family member. Take your time to ponder each question. Feel free to come back to a question if you are unsure of your answer. Once you’ve answered all of the questions, get together with your partner/friend, and discuss. 

When meeting with your partner or a friend to discuss, schedule some time (30-60 minutes) away from distractions where you can be fully present for one another. Before you begin, take some time to review How to Hold Space for Someone again. As we’ve all heard, body language speaks volumes. You want the essence of this conversation to be collaborative, so we encourage you to sit side-by-side vs. sitting across from one another.

How to Hold Space for Someone

For the Listener:

Holding space for someone else is sacred; it’s one way to love someone actively. Remain open physically, emotionally. Listen from your heart, not from your mind. 

Avoid:

  • giving advice

  • presumptions

  • hidden agendas

  • loaded questions

For the Speaker:

The soul knows when someone else is not speaking their truth. If the soul senses a roadblock (e.g. impatience, multi-tasking, problem-solving), it will give purely the facts and nothing else. When this happens, you lose the opportunity for connection. With this in mind, be truthful about how you feel with yourself and with each other. 

Part 1 – Individual Journaling

My/our options for creating a family going forward are…

 

My apprehensions for each of my/our options are…

 

My/Our next step is…

 

If the next step doesn’t take me/us closer to creating my/our family I will feel…

 

My hope for this next step is…

 

If completing this with a partner: 

  • One quality I love about my partner is…

  • One quality about our relationship that I love is…

 

If completing this solo:

  • One quality I love about myself is…

  • One quality I love about this experience is…

Part 2 – Coming Back Together

Where do we agree?

 

Where do we disagree?

 

How can we work to find middle ground? Or is it ok to have different ideas on some of these subjects at this time?