5 Surprising Things That Happen To Couples Who Stop Having Sex

My boyfriend Buddy is the first partner I have ever had with whom I share an intense physical connection. 

I'm talking about in the pants region. Our sex life is great. 

I could try to wax poetic about it. I mean, I went to school to study writing and this would be a great opportunity to get flowery, but flowery isn't real life. 

This is: when we have sex it is never not awesome. Even when it's just okay it's still bananas good sex. 

We've also both got high sex drives (props to you if you are still reading this and not shaking your head with disdain) and as a result, we have sex fairly regularly. It's become a habit, like brushing my teeth but with orgasms, so, you know ... better.

But a series of events led us to go almost two weeks without having sex. It wasn't a real dry spell (our lack of sex was logistical) but it was long enough that I noticed some interesting things about who we are as a couple that I wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

Here are just a few. 

1.) You find your inner child when you stop having sex 

Hot sex is great, but there is something even better about freezing your ass off in a tent in the woods wearing four pairs of pants and spouting your favorite Monty Python jokes at each other. I haven't done that since I was twelve and it was amazing to see that little kid Becca is still there, and so is little kid Buddy. 

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2.) Touch becomes so much more important when you stop having sex

It's great to be all up in someone's business having sex 24/7, but there's something to be said about a dry spell for the way it ratchets up physical sensation. When he held my hand to help me down a rough part of a trail on a hike, or guided me through a crowd with one hand on my back, I felt more than turned on, I felt safe and protected. 

3.) You relate to each other as people when you stop having sex

No matter how well you connect with your romantic partner when you're having sex all the time, sex is the main way you connect.

When sex isn't being had and you're together all the time, you let your guard down in a whole new way. I'm talking, you poop while he's still in your apartment and comment on the aroma of the poop. That kind of new way. 

4.) You look at the future differently when you stop having sex

When you're having sex all of the time it's easy to get stuck in a delicious rut of meeting, hanging out, laughing, eating, and having sex. When you're doing all of those things minus the sex, you realize how much you love being in this person's company without touching their penis or vagina, it makes you think about the future in new and exciting ways. 

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5.) It's so different when you have sex again after you STOP having sex

When you finally DO break that dry spell and have sex again, it's something special. It's like having sex for the first time with someone you've known for years. The intimacy is deeper and the sense of connection is so much more potent.

And you really turn each other on, both emotionally and physically, in a truly special way. 

We think of having sex as the ultimate way of connecting, but sometimes it's not having sex that can bring us back to each other.