One reason why abusive relationships are so wildly popular is because they provide a hedge against intimacy. The abuse, the drama, the standoffs and the lack of empathy render intimacy impossible, so in this respect the dramas serve those who are afraid to be close to others. Yet it goes deeper — I am fond of the definition of intimacy offered by my friend, the poet Jason Blickstein — into-me-see. The fear of intimacy is also the fear of seeing into oneself, to address what might be there.

— from Friday’s subscriber edition of Planet Waves, on the topic of Saturn in Scorpio