Don't break the Illusion

Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. Yes we are different and that's the way you need to keep it. At least from this man's point of view, I don't want a woman who acts like any of my male friends. This does not imply that both the sexes aren't equal or that one can't do what the other does. What this does mean is if a woman ever participated in a burping contest, regardless if she won or not, that is not the kind of woman for me. While we all do these kinds of things because it is a natural bodily function, there is an illusion so to speak that you block out that kind of image. If you think back to the whole illusion of dating, people are on their best behavior to make a positive impression. Once the relationship reaches a comfortable point some of those "good manners" fall by they way side. Conversely, I've seen talk shows where husbands had never seen their wife without make up on, she would wake up every morning before he did just to put it on. While this is extreme it is creating an illusion that they chose to maintain. Sometimes the illusion is broken temporarily, we are only human after all, but it can quickly be blocked out of your mind and reestablished. The point is we all create illusions when dating and it's important to keep them as much as possible, obviously it worked and it's what the other person wanted if the relationship lasts and is working. I don't recall the source or the exact quote but in essence it was "respect each other as if you where strangers", great idea IMO. After almost a year and a half I think we do a good job of following that advise. I guess now I know why the phrase "t.m.i." as become so widely used, it's another way of saying you just broke the illusion I had of you and I wish you hadn't. We are all magicians of sorts, do you know what illusions are important to you and which ones you should keep?