If you haven’t heard already, Russell Crowe is auctioning off personal items to continue to pay for his divorce from Danielle Spencer back in 2012. They split after 9 years of marriage.
This is a cautionary tale for many who are considering divorce themselves or are even tolerating a less than satisfying marriage.
To many, Russell and Danielle seemed like “the perfect couple,” so what could have gone wrong? Unlike many other celebrity couples, with their relationships constantly in the public eye, Russell and Danielle had a relatively quiet marriage, and this split came as a shock to many of their fans. Since the divorce has gone public, the celebrity news media has been abuzz with speculation.
Here at StrongMarriageNow, we are chalking up the split to a pair of problems that many couples face every day. In fact, the problems are very closely related – they usually come in tandem.
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The first major problem is time spent together. As we’ve written about before, being a Hollywood actor is a demanding career, and can result in months spent away from home. Over the course of his career, Russell has been involved in the making of multiple major motion pictures, including Nice Guys, The Mummy, Les Miserables, Broken City, Man of Steel, Gladiator, Master & Commander. The time spent filming and promoting huge films takes a toll on actors marriages. Like many other marriages that find themselves in trouble, this couple simply did not have enough time alone, together.
As a result of this time apart back in 2012, Danielle had been spending quite a bit of time with her Dancing With the Stars partner Damian Whitewood, and while they both vehemently deny the rumors of a physical affair, maintaining that they are “just friends,” developing a close friendship outside the marriage can be very damaging.
Even without anything physical, an emotional affair can still occur, when one member of a relationship is seeking comfort and companionship from another person that isn’t their spouse. It is perfectly normal to make friends, and to even be close to a person of the opposite sex, but when the spouse isn’t around, it opens the potential to start seeking the need for intimacy and companionship with this “friend,” and that can be seriously damaging to the marriage.
There weren’t any major fights or controversies surrounding their split, and it appeared that Russell and Danielle had simply grown apart over time – a direct result of spending too much time apart.
We were absolutely sorry to see a split between such a great and truly atypical Hollywood couple, especially when the causes were avoidable. Married couples everywhere should take note: the importance of spending quality time together cannot be overstated.
What do you think about divorce Russell Crowe? Please comment below…
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Dr. Dana Fillmore and Amy Barnhart, co-Founders, StrongMarriageNow.com
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