This year my husband and I celebrated our seventh year of marriage. It got me thinking about the infamous “7 year itch” and wondering if that could be a legitimate concern.
It also got me wondering if it is something that’s specific to marriage or just seven years with the same partner. Or maybe it’s something biological in every person, cycling through phases of life every seven years.
When does this 7 year itch theory begin? Is it when people start dating or when they get married? In my experience with my husband, we hit a rocky patch in 2016. This was coincidentally enough our seventh year together, but only our fourth year of marriage. Interesting…
Now we are in our seventh year of marriage, and especially after being quarantined together now for almost two months, day in and day out, I realized what a test this all was on our relationship. Aside from almost slapping him with a banana peel and him claiming I stabbed him with a fork, I’d say we kicked quarantine’s ass!
In hindsight, this pandemic has really taught me a lot about our relationship, and really makes me appreciate the man I married. If we could survive being locked together like this and not kill each other, I’d say we’re doing pretty great. So for now, I’d say the 7 year itch theory in marriage is a myth.
Just in case though, I came up with a list of 7 ways to help get past the 7 year itch if it shows up.
Check them out here: 7 Ways to get past the “7 Year Itch”
Nonetheless I’m still interested in what makes the “7 year itch” a thing we’ve all heard of. The 1955 movie starring Marilyn Monroe can’t be the only reason.
So, what exactly is the 7 year itch? This is a time, usually referred to with married couples that comes after the 7th year, when people start reevaluating their relationship. They either realize things aren’t working, or they are happy and satisfied and are committed to their partner.
After doing a bunch of research online and reading tons of articles, I discovered that there’s several theories out there.
- Relationships have a higher chance of ending after seven years.
Myth. People are more likely to get divorced around 3-5 years. This is the time that the “honeymoon phase” wears off, or they’ve gotten through the co-parenting stage of the difficult years of having children. There’s not really any proof that time is what causes challenges in relationships, as you can fall into a rut at any point. It’s more the stresses of life, children, interests in other partners, etc. that can take over and cause issues in your relationship.
Psychology Today - Every 7 years our cells are replaced and create a somewhat new person.
Myth. Cells are constantly dying and being replaced all the time.
LiveScience - There’s 7 Cycles of Life that affect a person’s development.
Reality. Philosopher and mystic Rudolph Steiner conspired a theory in the early twentieth century that links the stages of development to seven year cycles; helping to explain the changes humans experience in different stages of life. He also correlated his research with the cycles of astrology.0-7 years: Associated with the Moon and transforms a child into their own personality instead of what was inherited from the parents.
7-14 years: Associated with Mercury when the child’s imagination and ideas on life begin to develop and take over.
14-21 years: Associated with Venus when the higher mind takes root and impulses of puberty exist.
21-42 years: Associated with the Sun and are made up of three cycles of seven years all focusing on the elements of the sentient, intellectual, and consciousness soul.
42-49 years: Associated with Mars when the person, through their personality, works to leave an impact on the world.
49-56 years: Associated with Jupiter when a person’s wisdom begins to dawn and their ego is unfolding.
56-63 years: Associated with Saturn making it’s second return (come back to it’s position it had from one’s birth), and is the final cycle where the soul manifest’s a higher event of Self.
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What do you think? Is the “7 Year Itch” a myth or a reality?
Comment your thoughts below!
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