Why is it so hard to talk about intimacy, even in a healthy relationship?

I’ve been in a relationship for about 2 years now (23F, partner 24M), and honestly things are good between us. We talk about life, plans, stress—pretty much everything.

But when it comes to intimacy, it suddenly feels like there’s this invisible barrier. It’s not that anything is wrong, it’s just… not an easy conversation to start.

Sometimes I feel like we both avoid it without even realizing.

Maybe it’s because of how we were raised, or just the general discomfort around the topic. But it’s strange how something so normal can feel so difficult to talk about.

For people in long-term relationships—did this change for you over time? Or did you have to actively work on being open about it?