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Sharing your past with your partner can build trust and security in a budding relationship, or it can crush your growing love like a semi-truck. In the the first delicate and tender months, sharing too many intimate details too quickly is not necessarily the wisest thing to do.
I have been dating my current boyfriend for 8 months now, and for the most part it has been a steady and loving relationship. He is 7 years older than I am, and has had much more experience than I have with relationships. Perhaps this is why I overlooked my feelings when he started talking about his exes so frequently in the first few months we were dating.

The first conversation we had, we were relaxing over a bottle of wine and sharing past memories. I was regaled with a story of an intense sexual encounter that my boyfriend had had with an ex, and how that had shaped his views of their relationship. Had this been an isolated occurrence, I could have etch-a-sketched the visual image out of my mind and taken the story at face value, a learning experience. I am not so lucky.
Graphic, emotionally charged descriptions of the past 5 years of my boyfriends life were outlined for me with weekly regularity until I could no longer stand the feeling. Although I felt shallow and mean for being so insecure, I had to tell him that I could no longer continue seeing him if I was also seeing all 3 of his ex girlfriends at the same time! Illogical? I don't know. Should I be able to bite my tongue and listen to whatever story he wants to share with me? I don't know! As close as I want to be with him, or anyone I fall in love with, I will always believe that less is more.

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