By Michelle Rebecca
When you and your partner have a fight, do you blog, Tweet, change your status on Facebook and call all of your friends to let them know about it? If so, you might be endangering your relationship by sharing too much information with others.
As many celebrities (e.g., Kim Kardashian, Tom Cruise, Madonna) have discovered, it’s hard to nurture the tender bud of a healthy romance in the harsh glare of the public eye.
Related Link: Kim Kardashian ‘Doesn’t Want Battle’ with Kris Humphries
The Anatomy of a Fight
All couples argue, and everyone who has ever been in a relationship would probably admit to saying or doing something he or she later regretted. Normally, couples work through these less than ideal moments. Only the two of them, give or take a couple of very close friends, ever know that the unpleasantness took place at all.
Contrast that with the experience of an A-List celebrity who gets into it with her partner and exchanges some angry words with him in public. Those words won’t be forgotten as tempers cool. Instead, they will be repeated on every entertainment show and analyzed between the covers of every magazine.
If the fight was shocking enough, marriage counselors may even come out of the woodwork to speculate on the future of the relationship.
Related Link: Sherry Amatenstein Dishes on ‘The Complete Counselor’
Long after the celebrity herself has made up with her partner and is ready to move on, her fans will still be talking about those few ill-advised words hurled in what should have been a private moment.
Limiting Public Access
Whether you’re a movie star or a contractor estimating software sales agent, there’s a lot to be said for keeping your personal relationships…well, personal.
Take a moment to think about celebrity couples who have flung open the doors on their private lives. How many of them are still together?
Now, think about celebrities who have consistently declined to turn their personal lives into public fodder. I’m thinking of names like Rowan Atkinson (married since 1990), Julia Roberts, who learned the hard way about the cost of conducting relationships under media scrutiny (now happily married since 2002), and Meryl Streep (married since 1978).
Are you beginning to see a trend?
How Does All This Apply to Me?
Okay, so maybe you’re not a celebrity, but you can still make choices about whether you invite others to take an intimate look at your relationship. You can decide whether to make your latest dust-up with your partner the most talked about event of the week among your social circle or whether to resolve matters quietly between the two of you.
Most people find that the rift between you and your loved one heals far more quickly when your spat stays private.
Maybe the next time somebody says, “Talk to me, girlfriend,” your response should be, “No, thanks!”
Michelle is an aspiring writer and blogger with a passion for the Internet, specifically social media and blogging. She loves how social media connects people across the globe, and appreciates that blogging gives her the opportunity to voice her thoughts and share advice with an unlimited audience.
