Final Blog

Starting and ending relationships can be a tricky experience. Letting someone know that you don't want a relationship to go any further than then "experimenting" stage can also be a sensitive topic. I think there are a couple ways to communicate to someone that you don't want to further a relationship. I think the most obvious and simple way would be to tell the other person that you just aren't interested in anything deeper. Communicating this way would make it clear to the other person where you stand on the relationship. A less obvious way of doing this would be to attempt to avoid communicating with the other person. The book talks about using avoidance as a method of handling conflict, so this method could be used in this communication situation as well. Another way you could communicate that you are not interested in going beyond experimenting would be to stop sharing information about yourself. Often, relationships are built on a type of "you give I give" mentality.Therefore, if one party stops giving then the other party will, perhaps, stop giving information also. 

On the other hand, if you are trying to communicate that you do want to take the relationship to the next level, continuing to share about yourself and your life is a good tell that you are maintaining interest. Showing an interest in the topics that you learned about the other person during the "experimenting stage" can let the other person know that you are interested in learning more about them. The greatest telltale communication sign that a relationship is "intesifying" is when they decide together to be exclusive to one another. When two people communicate to each other and to others that they have committed to be in a monogamous relationship, this is a sign that their relationship has gone to the next level.