The puzzling thing about my spirals is that T doesn't seem to be able to stop them. The spirals usually take about a month, so she has plenty of opportunity.

Eventually I decide that whatever I'm doing isn't working, and I look for a radical new strategy. In the past, that often meant quitting. But not this time. This time I decided to talk less and listen more.

Maybe next time I'll recognise the spiral sooner, break out of it sooner, and in a more constructive way.