I want you. I don't want you. Now that you're here, what do I do?

The start of a relationship can feel like a dance. There are steps forward and steps back; letting the person in while protecting yourself from caring too much, being too vulnerable, wanting or expecting. This dance is like a waiting period, an extended interview, a pause before we get to the really good part.

What happens when we can't seem to move beyond the step forward-step back dance? When and how do we decide to move on? Why is it that some relationships move beyond this point while others fail?

In my experience, the unrealized love can be the most painful. You start to get close to someone, things seem to be developing, and that wonderful person you've been sharing with pulls away. Did he hit the panic button? Did I want too much? Or did his ex-girlfriend come back into town and send him on a destructive spiral?

It's painful when your pursuer pulls away when he/she realizes you intend to stick around and see things through. And it's sick when someone denies a romantic and intimate connection exists because now that he or she has got you, he/she just doesn't know what to do.

Piece above: Please Put it Away. completed April 7, 2009. See www.IvivaEmbroiders.etsy.com