Relationships

Remember how easy it was when you were a kid? You’d walk up to another kid in the sandbox, share your shovel—and just like that, you were best friends forever. In college or at your first job, the shared context helped you make connections: lectures

Does this sound familiar: Your mom asks you for the hundredth time to come to the cottage (but you have a deadline at work), a friend invites you for a cup of coffee when you’re exhausted, and your partner expects you to cancel your plans so he can visit his friends?

Imagine a classic scene from a movie: she’s crying, demanding attention, calling for the tenth time that evening, and wants to “talk about us.” He stares silently at his phone, steps back toward the door, clenches his jaw, and snaps: “Here you go again.