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What a Healthy ‘Low-Maintenance Relationship’ Actually Looks Like

A therapist says low-maintenance love can be healthy when it’s built on security, not suppressed needs or one-sided effort.

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I’ll never forget hanging out with a group of friends in college when one of my friends brought his new girlfriend along. She was sweet, bubbly, and extremely intelligent—the perfect match for him, I’d thought. When I told my friend how great I thought the girl was, he told me: “Yeah, I like her ‘cause she’s low-maintenance. It’s great.”

Immediately, this didn’t sit right with me. There were a million reasons he could’ve listed for liking her, but he chose “low-maintenance” as the main compliment? I asked him what he meant by that, and he said, “She accommodates me and doesn’t ask for much.”

I mean, hey, that was great and all, if they were both happy with that arrangement…and, sure, being easygoing can be a positive thing. But I couldn’t help but feel sad for his girlfriend. She deserved to be praised........

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