h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As I was strolling through the internet this morning, I came across this article on the Honeymoon Period of a relationship. I came up with the idea of maybe write a guide entry on it at a later date. The author's name is Janice Crowley and I've lost the website but I'm trying to find it again, it was burried deep in a message board somewhere, argh.

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The Honeymoon Period is something that occurs in nearly every relationship to some degree, but not necessarily on the part of both parties involved in a relationship.

Many relationships start off with an incredibly overwhelming sense of "This is an incredible person and I want to spend as much time as possible with him/her!" -- It's true, it happens, and it can be a wonderful feeling and an incredible experience. Welcome to: The Honeymoon Period. And just like any honeymoon, all good things must eventually come to an end, sometimes in more ways than one.

It is debated how long the average honeymoon period lasts in a relationship, but it usually rounds out to around two months for many people struggling to attain a long-term relationship with the person they like/love. It isn't something that is right or wrong--it simply exists. But when the honeymoon is over, there can be long-lasting side effects that may hurt one or both people in the relationship, or even end the relationship completely.

Changes occur that cannot be helped, and this period of time in a relationship is often ended by only one person (rarely a mutual agreement). Suddenly, one person doesn't want to spend all that time with his/her significant other any longer. The way a couple interacts may change drastically and, as a result, causes a serious side effect of feelings of fear, worry, neglect, anger, derpession, etc. in the person who is on the receiving end of this new information. A person may feel that her significant other does not care about her the way he used to, and that he is trying to push her away in order to look for someone better. She may feel neglected that her partner would choose sitting around doing nothing over seeing her, and she may feel angry or scared in relation to this. She may feel depressed about herself, that perhaps she is no longer attractive to her partner, or she may feel that she can no longer make her partner happy. She may feel frightened that every moment would be her last with her partner simply because it seems that he does not want her any longer.

In reality, none of this may be true at all, but it is important for someone instigating the end of a Honeymoon Period to be very sensitive about a person's feelings as a result of bringing in more space between both parties; otherwise, it may be the other person who will eventually end the relationship. It is still the responsibility of both parties to convey how they feel, and the responsibility of both parties to take the feelings of the other and maturely take them into consideration at all times. In general, a relationship that survives the end of the honeymoon period is most likely a very strong bond.
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I can think of a lot of things I'd like to add to this article, and I was very very surprised at how many of these things are very very true. I've gone through the end of more than one 'honeymoon period', some that ended relationships and some that did not. I have a lot of experience on this particular issue--experience I wish I didn't have. I'm a person who never wants space, I simply have no use for it.

- ametropia