I think that Baxter and Montgomery have touched upon a subject that most of us worry about when dealing with relationships. I think that a lot of people tend to think that their relationship is doomed when there is that struggle of push and pull, yet it is rather normal and healthy to experience it. I think that most relationships are stronger because of the constant state of flux that they remain in.Also, the concept of Contradiction is something that is introduced in the beginning of the chapter, and at first I had to re-read it to make sense of it. According to the text, Contradiction “refers to the dynamic interplay between unified oppositions.” I began to gain a better understanding of the concept in the example of the concept put into play by the characters James and Sarah and their struggle to gain interdependence and independence among their relationship with one another. I think that it is important to create a relationship in which each person is able to be independent and also interdependent at the same time, however it is not always as simple as it sounds, and most of us need to establish ourselves independently before we also become interdependent on another.The study of Relational Dialectics is important for us to learn about for many reasons and in my opinion some of these reasons include, to understand our relationships with others better, to establish a sense of normalcy within our struggles to maintain our relationships with others, but also to understand that the struggles that we face in our relationships exist for a reason and to learn that we let ourselves form these relationships based on the push and pull each other within our relationship.
Chapter 11: Relational Dialectics Monday, Mar 10 2008
Uncategorized 11:25 pm
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Chrissy, thank you for this good analysis. Do you think Relational Dialectics fails in any way?
I agree that we should most definitely be independent in our interdependent relationships. I do not think this is just something to establish at the beginning of a relationship, but something you constantly have to re-engage. I believe it takes stepping back and taking a good look at your relationship when you find yourself unhappy unless you are with that person, and getting your own life back so that person does not determine your happiness. It is like a routine check-up every person needs in seriuos relationships/friendships.