In a recent study conducted by the Cornell University and the City University in Hong Kong, researchers found that couples who lived far apart had stronger bonds, due to greater intimacy and sharing self revealing aspects of oneself.
Read more here:
http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/shine-on/long-distance-relationships-result-stronger-bonds-says-study-150944527.html
http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/shine-on/long-distance-relationships-result-stronger-bonds-says-study-150944527.html
This maybe partly due to the recent advances in technology which have paved the way to less costly, more convenient and more personal lines of communication. Mainly, however, the reason behind the success of any relationship is the resolve to love, trust and respect each other.
Recently, I met a Philippine Army Scout Ranger who has been married to his wife (a former Army military nurse) for several years. They have been together for the past 15 years but have been geographically apart ever since then. Being both from the military, they were often assigned in different places. Six years ago, the wife went to the United States (US) to work as a nurse and up to now, she is still in the US. The husband is still in the Philippines and they are not expecting to be together for good in the next ten years (which are the years he still has to be in active duty). When I asked him to sum up all the years they have been together, he said that it would not even amount to a year but only months. All in all, they have been (geographically) together for only 8 months and while apart, they have been communicating through Skype.
In the Philippines, there are several ways by which families, loved ones communicate with each other. For Apple users, the iMessage and Facetime are two breakthroughs to communication. Through iMessage, an iphone, ipad or itouch with wi-fi or 3g internet connection can send messages to another iphone, ipad, itouch user anywhere in the world. I hate to say this, 'but wait there is more'! Through iMessage, videos and photos can also be instantly transmitted. It does not stop there because, by configuring the settings, the time when the message was delivered, received and read can also be viewed. No more excuses for faulty connections, eh? Through Facetime, on the other hand, as the name implies, you can now see your loved ones face to face without turning on that laptop or that desktop with video camera. In real time, you will be able to see another person open his eyes in the morning, eat lunch which you watched him cook, see the lake by which the other is standing by, or see how the other falls asleep in the evening. These applications have been mainstreamed that they are sometimes being used as verbs like, 'I will facetime you later' or 'Viber me'.
For non-Apple users, there are also tons of applications with the same and at times better features than iMessage and Facetime. For one, there is Viber. Through Viber, friends can chat about (anyone and) anything, pester and send stickers to each other anytime of the day and night. Like Facetime, video call is also available here. There is also WeChat (again with the same features as Facetime and iMessage combined). These applications have a feature where voice can be recorded and transmitted. Whoa! There is also Line which has the same features as WeChat. Of course, who can ever forget the classics, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Fring, and Facebook! Now, communication has become more animated, graphical, real time, personal, etc etc. Wherever you may be, you will never feel alone. Geographical boundaries by which we are separated is continuously becoming a thing of the past. You might be sleeping in the Philippines and waking up in some other parts of the world. Holograms, teleporting might even become possible.
On the main aspect however, when there is a resolve to love, respect and trust each other, nothing can really be impossible. There is no greater connection than the connection of two souls. This is more powerful than any application available.
