Dr. Julie Gottman

I don't know if you see it there in Australia, but they don't like it if their women are earning more.

And it so happens that

you know, given what John mentioned in terms of education and accomplishment and so on, there are a number of women who are earning more.

So men can feel intimidated by that or embarrassed by that.

They may feel like it's not manly, right?

And they don't measure up.

And they are still supposed to be the ones who initiate, you know, dating, despite

feminism and so on, it's really hard for guys.

I feel for them.

Yeah, and I think some of the ways of doing that, given the economic strains that people are under today, are doing things actually like our daughter and son-in-law do.

They go on mini dates that cost zero, and they will go for long walks, or they'll go sit down by the river somewhere.

And bring a candle and, you know, a thermos of tea, and they'll just talk, you know, sitting on the dock.

So there are lots of ways of staying connected through kind of romantic things, too, that don't have to cost money.

So that's one thing.

Another thing is given the stress that people are under, it's so important to have a stress-reducing conversation and to have those frequently.

And what do we mean by that?

Well, that is a conversation where one person listens, the other one speaks.

And the speaker is talking about stresses outside the relationship.

What happened at the office?

Or what happened when they went for this job interview?