Intimacy means different things to different people. I asked twenty people the first word that comes to mind when I say the word "intimacy." There was an overwhelming response of positive comments like "love," "connection," "clarity," "sex," and "trust." Why then, when I asked myself this same question, did I get the word "run!"? This was accompanied by a gut feeling of "intimacy hurts." 

After some reflection on the matter, I realized that my response may have come from a wounded part of myself still enacting its script in my life. The script goes something like this, "Watch out! Don't let them in too close!  Remember, your dad died when you were 6 years old and left you in pain and grief, and this person may leave you too."  

My adult self has done a tremendous amount of he