The Most Important Information / Key Concepts

I’m someone who at least tries to be self-aware and mindful of others in my daily life. Mindfulness is something I first learned about as a tool in therapy, but it’s something that has stuck with me in other aspects as well. I think that it has helped me to be more aware of how I communicate with others, I do my best to give others the benefit of the doubt, view without judgement, and understand that perspectives can vary greatly. I understand that the intent of someone’s words may not always match up with the desired effect of their words, which is something the book touches on repeatedly. Messages being misconstrued, words meaning different things to different people, timing, pitch, intonation, all of these things can change the way a situation or conversation is viewed by different people, and it leaves a lot of room for error when

Love is unique in its striking ability to be a driving force in dictating interpersonal relationships. It patterns behavior and orients individuals towards their distinct, unique attractions. According to Velleman, love penetrates deeper than one’s qualities; it extends to one’s rational will, or the essence of a person. To him, though love appears to have particularity, it is also a moral emotion. Kolodny subscribes to the relationship theory, asserting that an ongoing, interpersonal, and historical relationship with a relative is a part of the reason for love. In Kolodny’s view, the existence of the true self is irrelevant, as is the morality of love. Both Velleman and Kolodny disprove the quality theory; however, their perceptions of love and its morality differ. I believe that Kolodny is correct in his view that morality is irrelevant to love and that there must be factual reasons for love. Although it is enticing to believe that one is attracted to the essence of another, the essence is not motivation enough for love. The relationship theory takes into account the motivation needed to love a particular person from a historical, interpersonal, and ongoing perspective.

Mary Anne Fitzpatrick is the developer of the three original types of marriage. The three types include; Traditional marriage, Independent marriage, and Separate Marriage. When she was studying, she noticed that not every couple was the same, and that age played a factor in it as well when it came to categorizing couples in what type of marriage they are. “Couples can be differentiated on the basis of their “independence,” the extent to which they share their feelings with one another. Some couples are highly interdependent, depending on their partners for comfort, expressions of love, and fun. Other couples are more reserved and do not depend on their partners for emotional sharing and support,”(345). This shows Fitzpatrick’s theory of different types of marriage is true and each couple is different form another and that they should be put into different categories and not just one.

Muriel’s Wedding (1995), written by P.J. Hogan, explores the central notion of relationships. Relationships can be defined as the connection between people and others, and it is these relationships that allow an individual to find and/or reaffirm their identities. More specifically, Hogan conveys that individuals will always seek out others who they can form positive relationships with, which in turn can reaffirm their sense of identity. He also portrays that the outcome of a relationship is not always what individuals expect when they initiate them, and social labels such as marriage may fail our expectations and do not always indicate the true nature of a relationships.

My life has been filled with motherly anecdotes like that one and they are why I write. Looking back at the times she told her stories (when my sadness didn’t blur out my sense of curiosity) I remember wishing I had every detail, image, and piece of advice to keep for myself. Sadly, all she had were her present, and somewhat obscured, opinions. One night, a final sob breaking past my lips, I decided to jot down a story to tell my kids. I made it my mission to write down my raw opinions and emotions from elementary, middle, and high school to help my children cope with common issues while getting a sense of my life.

The idea of "love at first sight" is a common theme portrayed throughout a wide variety of media outlets within the American culture. In his article "Choosing Mates-The American Way," Martin King Whyte puts forth the idea that in American culture there are two distinctly different theories that describe the process in which we go about choosing a companion, one which involves a marketplace viewpoint and another that is established in love (134). These competing viewpoints surrounding the ways in which we choose our partners are important ideas to consider when thinking about the formation of family bonds within our culture. A few other intriguing viewpoints that I will consider in the formation of my own family is the idea of "choice" that is prevalent amongst our Western culture (Pasupathi 163), as well as, the power that an individuals demographics plays on their opportunities at choosing a companion (Pasupathi 165). With the notion of the "traditional American nuclear family" being constantly challenged and reshaped in our current times, one can get a sense of how the concept of family is a fluid one. As postulated by Stephanie Coontz in her article, "Historical Perspectives of Family Diversity," what constitutes a family has consistently differed throughout history and that one must always take into consideration the context of the many outside influences (socioeconomic, time period, cultural, etc.) that have a part in its formation (55).

Five key pieces of information most important for patients to know that under the following:

At its heart, mindfulness is just a way to pay closer attention to everything that is going on. It focuses on rooting yourself in the present to notice what is really happening within your mind and body. You begin to notice the things that are going on around you without judging what is going on. The flowers grow, your boss gives you a new project and cars drive by just because that is what they do. With this mind set, you stop judging and are able to just exist within the moment. Instead of allowing yourself to go into autopilot, you are able to observe your life at a distance.

As we enter the following generation, a shift in the ideas of relationships is evident. Around this time, relationships became less about the inevitability of marriage and more towards the possibility of marriage. From this shift came the concept of dating, as well as a decrease on the essentials of marriage. Delaney describes dating as a focal point in romantic relationships (Delaney, 179) In her findings, Delaney writes that it is assumed that a relationship will form as a result of dating, but also gives those the opportunity to meet more people without going straight into marriage. While some couples continued to follow the traditional view of relationships, others branched out and began to date more people before settling down to marriage.

Each of the readings had completely polar opposite opinions from one another and one of the readings in favor of a mindfulness outdoor experience had some evidence to support their side while the one favoring the realization that there is no self happens to be a psychologist. Each of these are important because we are entering nuances in our field and there is this craze to be mindful and it was interesting and different to read about a side against mindfulness and how there really isn’t any benefit at all and in fact, causing us more harm than good.

Relationships are formed for various reasons and perform a multitude of roles; purposes of relationships range from the need of companionship to financial support. Relationships are inherently complicated and contain a variety of interconnecting aspects. Moreover, each partner may have unique concepts of their relationships, which their partner may or may not share. Having had the privilege of being connected to Gregory, uniquely, has allowed me to observe his relationships in depth. The interview I conducted over Gregory’s and, his partner, Shelby’s relationship was in congruence with my observation of their relationship. Both my observation and the interview conducted were important tools which allowed me to view their relationship objectively and more intimately. Applying the theories associated with love allows for a better understanding of the relationship. These theories include the Wheel Theory, the Triangular Theory, and the concept of intimacy.

I found this book very helpful, it gives insight on how to deal with daily challenges. The book emphasizes mindfulness habits to build inner peace and happiness. In choosing this book, I realize my need to improve my focus in life, my

A number of well-thought out socio-culture proverbs, which highlight the cultural values of mankind by spotting on the fact that the quality of life lies within the quality of relationships we have, actually refer to the depths of social associations that the masses possess and extract out the true essence of human life in relation to the social surroundings humans are engrossed with. This reveals that a true relationship is when one loves for the sake of loving and not for achieving some desired outcomes. Love is all about selflessness and relationships are all about nurturing true feelings of esteem and

Your relationship with your family and friends is what makes you who you are. Though, your relationship

“Blood is thicker than water” and “Family before friends” are two common ideas related to the idea of family vs. friends. With social changes to modern society these two terms are even more relevant to how families work and how families will continue to form in the future. According to Mary Patricia Treuthart, author of “Adopting a more realistic definition of family” in the 1990’s the appropriate definition of family was “a breadwinner-husband and a homemaker-wife who live with their biological children,” (Treuthart, 91). This idea focused around the fact that the children had to be blood related and the parents had to be a heterosexual couple. This idea of a family is no longer applicable to what are now modern families. A belief that has taken over the western world is the idea that you choose your family. Family is not blood, but those that you care for and those that care for you. I fully support the idea that every individual decides their own family. Through the evaluation of time comparisons, peer experience and personal experience the idea of family and who individuals consider their “family” will be evaluated to prove the idea that individuals have, in some sense, chosen their own families since the beginning of time. First, I will evaluate a simple timeline of relationships to examine where the cross mixture of friends and family first occurred.