Right on the heels of Christmas, we’re going to hit the topic of family.  Regardless of whether such circumstances apply to our own personal situations, the term ‘family’ tends to default to stereotypical images of a heterosexual couple with children, possibly a dog and a white-picket fence. Thankfully, this has grown in recent years to include same-gendered couples, but still it is unusual to speak of deep friendships, of partnerships without children, of support-circles of people in like-minded circumstances as families.*

For most of us, our first and formative experiences of living with others in the world is that of our parents and (when applicable) siblings. The family provides our first life lessons on ‘group’ life, that is, life amongst (or not, as the case may be) other people, and influences much of our relationships to others for the duration of our lives. What we have experienced with these individuals represents care or not-care in its manifold ways, comprises our fundamental understanding of how to relate to others, how to take care of ones self in relation to others, and how to (allow oneself) to be taken care of.

Some of the directions our conversation might take:
    •    How should family be defined?
    •    How do our own personal circumstances deviate from this definition, and are these deviations good or bad?
    •    How do family dynamics shift and change as we age, move away, start our own families?
    •    How and to what degree are we responsible for family members in our adult lives? (aka. spouses are only considered family until such relationships fall apart; for some reason the term ‘divorce’ is not acceptable or applicable when referring to deteriorating or unhealthy relationships between parents or children)