In this "New Consciousness Reader," editor Mark Robert Waldman has gathered together essays about the challenges of love between men and women. The overarching themes of consciousness and communication shine through these pieces which capture sunlight and shadow in sexual politics.
Judith Viorst probes the way repetitive compulsion (the need to revisit pain) damages relationships. Harville Hendrix explores how couples often use intimacy to heal the wounds of childhood. Judith S. Wallerstein and Sandra Blakeslee show how a good marriage is transformative, and M. Scott Peck salutes true listening as love-in-action. For those who cherish "the mysteries of love and the sacredness of life" as editor Waldman puts it, even difficulties can be catalysts to renewal and transformation. Gerald R. Weeks and Larry Hof discuss the art of fighting, and Gary J. Friedman shares four steps to conflict resolution. The best section in the book on "Sacred Bodies, Sacred Selves" includes essays by Thomas Moore, John Welwood, Thich Nhat Hanh, and George Feuerstein. The Art of Staying Together is tailor-made for those on a quest to deepen love and intimacy.