Feb 11, 2025 – While we’re pleased to feature the lovely new anniversary design above, what really tickles us is sharing that Contributing Cardie Rachel Glik has just written a new book on the subject. And, true to form, she labored over it in order to lovingly guide and support the rest of us.
In her email announcing the release of A Soulful Marriage last week, Rachel wrote, “Now more than ever, we need more unity. Let’s start close to home!” Having devoted more than three decades to earning her doctorate in counseling, then serving individuals, couples, and families in private practice in St. Louis, for the last decade she has been the relationship and mental health expert for her local Fox channel and recently also became a contributor to Psychology Today.
You’re likely already familiar with Rachel’s writing as we bet you’ve sent at least one of the seven soulful Passages card messages she’s let us publish over the years. When we asked what prompted her to devote the inordinate amount of time and energy required to write a thorough guide to relationship growth, Rachel said, “I want to help couples realize the potential they have to deepen their love and joy, and to appreciate the powerful impact this has far and wide. Lasting love is a trainable skill, one that inspires us to become the best version of ourselves along the way.”
She describes a soulful marriage as “an environment you create together where each of you feel cherished and admired as you are, and yet challenged to be your best — all the while growing ever closer.”
Though unmarried, I bought the book out of admiration for Rachel and really enjoyed reading it on my Kindle last weekend. Now, I feel the need to propose that she and her publisher one day re-release the book re-titled “Soulful Relationships” because I found her wisdom amazingly applicable to every sort of relationship, business as well as personal. While reading, I made a point of noting sections I thought would interest our Cardie Community and, hehe, highlighted 124 excerpts! And, honestly, I could have marked dozens more.
For example, Rachel wrote that she introduces herself to her clients — and now us! — by sharing that “After thirty-eight years with my husband, I know that I am responsible for how I speak to him, that I need to put effort day in and day out to make sure I’m approaching him with spiritual diplomacy. If I want things to go well, I need to be conscious of his buttons and what I have learned about him that helps us fight for more closeness, not fight for a personal win. This all takes the f-word: Effort, constant effort. We must all embrace this reality if we want to create a lasting and growing connection with our partner.”
She explains, “When we don’t understand the growth purpose of our relationships — that conflict is here to benefit us, not hurt us — it’s like finding ourselves in a maze without any map to guide us. When we bump against one another in a close relationship,” she says, “it’s a fast-track to unearth what is blocking us from who we are capable of becoming, and the unity we are meant to experience.
“We all bring our unique individuality, childhood history, lineage, and past relationship experiences into our relationships. The decision to commit to an intimate relationship — it’s as if we sign a contract giving our partner permission to push our deepest buttons. What makes all the difference is how we perceive this button pushing and what we do from there.”
Below you’ll find a good couple of buttons to push! And because I know a good many Cardies in this Community have built happy, longstanding marriages themselves, we’re hereby inviting you to kindly tell us the secret to your success in the Comment section. Congrats and thanks to Rachel, and godspeed to the rest of us!
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
Feb 11, 2025 – While we’re pleased to feature the lovely new anniversary design above, what really tickles us is sharing that Contributing Cardie Rachel Glik has just written a new book on the subject. And, true to form, she labored over it in order to lovingly guide and support the rest of us.
In her email announcing the release of A Soulful Marriage last week, Rachel wrote, “Now more than ever, we need more unity. Let’s start close to home!” Having devoted more than three decades to earning her doctorate in counseling, then serving individuals, couples, and families in private practice in St. Louis, for the last decade she has been the relationship and mental health expert for her local Fox channel and recently also became a contributor to Psychology Today.
You’re likely already familiar with Rachel’s writing as we bet you’ve sent at least one of the seven soulful Passages card messages she’s let us publish over the years. When we asked what prompted her to devote the inordinate amount of time and energy required to write a thorough guide to relationship growth, Rachel said, “I want to help couples realize the potential they have to deepen their love and joy, and to appreciate the powerful impact this has far and wide. Lasting love is a trainable skill, one that inspires us to become the best version of ourselves along the way.”
She describes a soulful marriage as “an environment you create together where each of you feel cherished and admired as you are, and yet challenged to be your best — all the while growing ever closer.”
Though unmarried, I bought the book out of admiration for Rachel and really enjoyed reading it on my Kindle last weekend. Now, I feel the need to propose that she and her publisher one day re-release the book re-titled “Soulful Relationships” because I found her wisdom amazingly applicable to every sort of relationship, business as well as personal. While reading, I made a point of noting sections I thought would interest our Cardie Community and, hehe, highlighted 124 excerpts! And, honestly, I could have marked dozens more.
For example, Rachel wrote that she introduces herself to her clients — and now us! — by sharing that “After thirty-eight years with my husband, I know that I am responsible for how I speak to him, that I need to put effort day in and day out to make sure I’m approaching him with spiritual diplomacy. If I want things to go well, I need to be conscious of his buttons and what I have learned about him that helps us fight for more closeness, not fight for a personal win. This all takes the f-word: Effort, constant effort. We must all embrace this reality if we want to create a lasting and growing connection with our partner.”
She explains, “When we don’t understand the growth purpose of our relationships — that conflict is here to benefit us, not hurt us — it’s like finding ourselves in a maze without any map to guide us. When we bump against one another in a close relationship,” she says, “it’s a fast-track to unearth what is blocking us from who we are capable of becoming, and the unity we are meant to experience.
“We all bring our unique individuality, childhood history, lineage, and past relationship experiences into our relationships. The decision to commit to an intimate relationship — it’s as if we sign a contract giving our partner permission to push our deepest buttons. What makes all the difference is how we perceive this button pushing and what we do from there.”
Below you’ll find a good couple of buttons to push! And because I know a good many Cardies in this Community have built happy, longstanding marriages themselves, we’re hereby inviting you to kindly tell us the secret to your success in the Comment section. Congrats and thanks to Rachel, and godspeed to the rest of us!
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
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