Individuals seldom grow at the same pace when they are coupled. One, or both partners invariably grow in different directions. Interests and priorities change, consciousness expands or contracts, one party develops while the other remains stagnant. Sometimes the relationship container is flexible enough to accommodate these differences, but not always. Sometimes it is not healthy or additive to remain together. Sometimes there is a strong impulse to say farewell. We see this often in the spiritual world. As one individual begins to awaken to their authenticity, the other remains affixed to their survivalist patterns, clinging resolutely to their adaptations and disguises, utterly refusing to expand their habitual range of e-motion. For whatever reason, they are simply not interested in exploring another way of being. In this situation, it seems obvious that the connection must end, and this is often what happens. But a word of caution for those who are at the beginning stages of awakening- take your time with this. When the awakening begins, you may feel a desperate need to push everything away that reflects who you were before it began. This is natural, as you seek to deepen into a new way of being. But, do remember that once you have consolidated your awakening, you may see your partner through a different light. You may come to realize that the exact characteristics that you now see as unawakened- for example, their practicality, cynicism, and adherence to worldly matters- are precisely the qualities that ground your flight into other realms. You may come to find that their seemingly slow-to-change aspects are actually the perfect common sense counter-balance to your rapid-fire awakening. They may be exactly what you need, in ways you were unable to recognize when your awakening caught fire. Someone had to hold down the fort while you went off in search of nirvana. The earth to your sky…. - Jeff Brown