09/08/2026
For me real intimacy starts with how much you are willing to know yourself…
How conscious you are about yourself, your shadows, your fears…
And from that consciousness, how much you accept yourself.
The real question here is the difference between SEEKING AND FACING…
You can go to an intimacy workshop, and it can show you a part of yourself. But if you’re not willing to actually look at it, if you ignore it, bypass it, move on to the next thing, nothing really changes.
The more you know and accept yourself, REALLY, not just the curated parts, the less afraid you are of being truly seen by someone else. There’s less left to hide, because you’ve already become willing to meet yourself.
And what you haven’t looked at in yourself doesn’t just disappear. It shows up anyway… in your reactions, your fears, your patterns with the people closest to you.
This isn’t about arriving somewhere. It’s a practice. A little more self-knowledge, a little more awareness, every day.
And yes, I believe that there are many parts that we can truly know in relationship to another person…
In therapy, my therapist reflects back parts of me I hadn’t seen on my own. In friendships, in past relationships, my triggers show me exactly where I still have more to meet in myself.
So maybe it’s not one or the other. I do the work alone. And relationship keeps showing me the rest.
Which brings me to the real question…
If we’re not willing to look within, on our own, and through what others reflect back to us, how can we ever be truly intimate with someone else?
Love you,
Constanza Aphrodite 🪶♥️🐍