Laugh, Love and Sex

I was stuck at home last week due to infected tonsils. I was just sipping at one of my countless glasses of tea when I nearly spoiled the healing liquid… What? Flemish news: Thursday evenings are officially declared to be dating and sex evenings for couples living in Belgium.

Was this joke?  As curious as I was, I swallowed (ouch!) and read further. Flemish Health Minister Jo Vandeurzen is on a mission to spread the word about cherishing a relationship and he is bloody serious. Focus point: parents with young children who ARE juggling around.
Sex attracts. It worked. It got my attention and maybe yours too. When I talk about this subject during workshops, people chuckle/move around uncomfortably or laugh loudly. It’s this laugh (as a defence mechanism) that makes me realise how much attention is needed for this subject. In my work as a lawyer/mediator I guided couples through a divorce and often one of my basic questions was which pillar of a loving relationship (maatje, minnaar, moeder; English for: mate, lover, parent) had fallen over. Most of the time the answer was ‘lover’, immediately followed by a ‘well, actually it has been a long time ago since we were lovers’.
We laugh about sex, but it is also human. We need to cherish, to bond, to feel child again in our adults’ lives. It brings us energy, it boosts our immunity and it bonds. When we are happy, we will share this with the people we feel connected to: our children, our friends, family and colleagues.

Please see below some tips to cherish your relationship.
See also Belgian website www.tijdvoorjerelatie.be (only available in Dutch)

Carmen's letters (November 2016)

Wed, 23 November