“No man is an island.”–John Donne
We all need others to connect to, communicate with, to and for support and purpose.
Living with a significant other or significant others is a basic. Living alone for any length of time is potentially lonely and problematic unless you are a very strong, independent, inner-resourced individual.
Family is basic. We all start and often finish with/in families. Families, parents, siblings, and relatives give our lives meaning and purpose.
Friends are valuable. They supplement families and significant others. They give us different audiences with diverse, interesting backgrounds and individual sensibilities to connect to. Friends can be neighbors, workmates, and schoolmates. They can be recent or, if we’re lucky, go very far back in time to our childhood or youth.
Mentors and role-models are, likewise, basic. They help shape us in our choice of careers, lifestyles, and values overall.
Pets also often fulfill deep inner needs within us and provide a daily connection to Nature.
Relationships are the contexts of individuals’ lives. Having relationships is natural and automatic like breathing fresh air. Relationships are chosen to add more feeling, empathy, sympathy, depth, wisdom, and love to our lives.