This is not a singles evening, nor is it couples therapy. Or maybe it’s a bit of both. Whatever the case, the subject is relationships, single and otherwise. I’m grouping both ‘categories’ because I’m pretty tired of the pervasive ‘us-and-them’ mentality of singles and couples. Any of us could at any time be on either side of this dichotomy (despite what we might think on the matter), and neither should be seen as a ‘solution’ for the other (nor does it ever end up being so!)

Some directions the talk might go in: what do we need relationships for, anyhow? What do they provide, what kinds are there, how are the cultural and societal priorities we live in reflected in our relationships? (to wit: Did you know that couples get great tax breaks? And when was the last time you saw an ad aimed at single people that WASN’T for online dating?)

There is a reason solitary confinement is a dreaded form of punishment for prisoners, but WHAT IS IT? How do the difficulties we have with ourselves change in the presence of people we love and care about? And for those of us who have just gone through two years confined in small apartments for way too long with our significant others, how has that reevaluated (if at all) our choices to be with them?

A lot of us in the group are expats, so I’m going to throw the city of Berlin into the mix. This city is densely populated with a revolving door of aspiring creatives, tech entrepeneurs, europhiles looking for utopian bohemia, and other modern-day dreamers, all on their own convoluted paths, making it a city that can be hard to put stable roots down in, particularly when it comes to other people. Or is that actually a good thing?