HackMD
Customising Intentional Approaches to All Relationships
In the context of these Resources for Customising Intentional Relationships, a relationship can be understood as any connection between two or more people, in whatever form that takes.
In contrast to default approaches to relationships, one way to cultivate intentional relationships is through the practice of customising how we relate to each of the people in our lives.
This practice of intentionally customising relationships can be both an individual and a collaborative process.
As an individual, intentionality includes reflecting on the different elements through which we relate to others in various contexts, and identifying which of these best support an ongoing connection with each of the people we choose to keep in our lives.
Extending this intentionality to the deliberate co-creation of specific relationships requires collaboration. One possible approach to this collaborative processes is that of customising the collection of mutually-beneficial elements through which two or more people sustain their ongoing relationships. In addition, taking an intentional approach to relationships can highlight how the dynamics of connection we choose with specific people can contribute to the conditions of constraint & possibility that structure our broader communities.
Given that the notion of cultivating intentional relationships is broader than that used here, it is important to note that this resource set focuses on approaches to customising intentional relationships that resist default expectations that the types and structures of our relationships fit societal norms. This focus on existing outside societal norms has generated a wide variety ways in which people configure each of their relationships, as well as the ways in which they conceptualise various combinations of relationship elements. For example, some people avoid defining relationship types. For others, differentiating between the configurations of various relationships can be used to establish a stable interdependent set of relationships to invest in (without predetermining the relative value of each relationship).
Next steps
- Introduction to Relationship Elements
- Return to the Overview of Resources for Customising Intentional Relationships
- Return to the List of Contents for Resources for Customising Intentional Relationships
Attribution & Contact
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Footnotes
- Dictionary definitions of relationships as connection
A relationship is defined as being a ‘connection’ in the Oxford, Collins, and Merriam Webster dictionaries. In the Oxford Dictionary, 'relationships' is defined as a noun for “the way in which two or more people or things are connected, or the state of being connected.” While offering a few more options, the Collins Dictionary defines the countable noun of a relationship between two things as “…the way in which they are connected.” Likewise, in the Merriam Webster dictionary, it includes the definition of relationship as a noun for “the state of being related or interrelated” (where ‘being related’ means “connected by reason of an established or discoverable relation” and ‘relation’ means “an aspect or quality, such as resemblance, that connects two or more things or parts as being or belonging or working together or as being of the same kind”). In addition, ‘to relate’ is listed as a verb used for several types of interactions, including “to have relationship or connection” and “to establish logical or causal connection between”.
