Today’s Relationship Advice is Toxic (Part 2)

This post is a follow-up to my previous post about what women are told to do when a man goes silent.

One of my favorite stories is Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince. That story has some great advice, believe it or not. I believe that the prince represents men, and the rose and perhaps the fox represent women (or at least friends and loved ones in general).

“But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she’s the one I’ve watered. Since she’s the one I put under glass, since she’s the one I sheltered behind the screen. Since she’s the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except the two or three butterflies). Since she’s the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she’s my rose.”

Think of your relationship with the person you love as the rose. When you entered into that relationship, you became responsible for “watering” it, for sheltering it from damage, protecting it from the “caterpillars” that might destroy it.

“To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world….”

When you enter into a relationship, you have “tamed” the person — the fox uses this word to mean, “establish ties.” The man or woman you choose to enter into a relationship with is more…