Lily M. Cooper
Relationships are a way to express self and others through bonds of friendship, shared experiences, and similar feelings. The word relationship comes from the verb relationship, “to join,” thus, “to join in a relationship.” A more appropriate term for this type of relationship would be “common-law marriage.” However, a relationship may not necessarily be sexual in nature; it could also simply be comprised of common-law bonds of friendship. A relationship may even be defined as a long-term friendship, a past romantic involvement, or a romantic interest.
- Relation is one of the most common types of relationships.
- An intimate relationship, as defined by the dictionary, is “a close and personal relationship.”
- Although, often times, an emotional relationship is also a sexual relationship, it can also be just a non-sexual relationship between friends, family, or acquaintances.
Generally speaking; people fall in love, but not all relationships develop to the next level. Most relationships start as friendships, but if those initial feelings of friendship are not maintained then the feelings of romance and sexual attraction might eventually develop. In order to keep that initial friendship intact, commitment is required from both parties. Commitment can be psychological, as in entering into marriage or other legally binding relationships, or it can be physical, such as enduring sexual intimacy with another person. Sometimes the two people actually have no feelings for one another, and their relationship develops solely based on their physical experiences together.
The most common example of this is when two friends meet each other in college and remain friends for the rest of their lives, even though they are not romantically involved with one another. Often times, these friendships are formed based on one person’s experiences with another, and the experiences that each person goes through. Perhaps, one experiences bullying at school, which tends to leave an emotional imprint on the person who had been the target of the bullying. Over time, the friends begin to spend more time together, forming a deep emotional bond.
As is the case with most forms of relationships; there are good and bad relationships and those that work and those that don’t. When you are involved in a deep emotional relationship with someone, your perspectives may be entirely different from the perspectives of other people. This means that you may not see the same things as other people. While those who are involved romantically with someone form a close relationship based on physical attraction, these same people rarely consider the deeper feelings a relationship requires. Those who feel romantically involved with someone do not see the perspective of self-worth, and thus will not have an ego-centric view of the relationship.
If you are in a relationship and you aren’t romantically involved with the other person, you must still have an inner friendship. Having an inner friendship requires that you are willing to have a frank and open dialogue about any issues in the relationship. These issues can include issues of dependency, power, control, and sharing. As those who are romantically involved know, these issues are rarely resolved without some sort of communication between the partners. When you do not talk about these issues, they often remain unchecked, resulting in either the loss of a significant relationship, or in putting a positive relationship at risk.
