Relationships Archives

The Benefits of Community and How to Build Strong Relationships

Three smiling friends in a mountain environment reaping the benefits of community.

What are the benefits of community? How can building relationships improve your health and well-being? The benefits of community include reducing anxiety and depression and even lowering the risk of heart disease. Understanding these benefits as well as strategies for building relationships can help you improve both your mental and physical health. Continue reading to learn how to build community and how having community can benefit you.

Barbra Streisand’s Relationships: Gould, Brolin, & Those in Between

A woman and six men behind her on a stage in the lights.

What do Barbra Streisand and Joan Collins have in common? What actor and singer wrote a song about Streisand more than 20 years after they broke up? Although she’s played countless romantic leads on stage and screen, Barbra Streisand’s relationships in real life have been difficult, at least until her current marriage. She writes about her two marriages and a few other love interests in her memoir My Name Is Barbra. Read more to learn about husbands Elliott Gould and James Brolin and a couple of relationships in between these marriages.

How Dopamine Affects Behavior: Romance and Creativity

A lesbian couple smiling, showing how dopamine affects behavior.

How can we understand how dopamine affects behavior? Can the amount of dopamine you have influence your relationships and beliefs? Dopamine affects behavior by making us look forward to the future and anticipate future happiness. A look at how this works can tell you a lot about where certain behaviors come from. Read here to see how dopamine levels can affect everything from romantic relationships to political beliefs.

How to Evaluate Your Relationships to Improve or End Them

A couple talking at a restaurant and evaluating their relationship.

Are your relationships getting in the way of your self-improvement? How do you evaluate your relationships? Sarah Knight argues that as an adult, you have a choice about who you spend your time with. She explains that in every relationship, you have three choices for how to move forward: Maintain the relationship, improve it, or end it. Continue reading to decide what to do with the relationships in your life.

8 Boundaries Exercises for Groups: Find Freedom in Drawing a Line

Do you tend to be a doormat? Do you make sacrifices you shouldn’t? Do you let people in where they don’t belong? When we’re not skilled in setting and enforcing boundaries, we’re more vulnerable to unhealthy relationships, mixed-up priorities, and burnout. We’ve put together several boundaries exercises for groups based on concepts from Henry Cloud, Nedra Glover Tawwab, Rachel Hollis, and others. Keep reading to get started on these exercises that can help you move toward a more peaceful, balanced life.

The Art of Community: Book Overview (Charles Vogl)

What’s The Art of Community by Charles Vogl about? Do you belong to a community you care about and want to improve? Community expert Charles Vogl can help you achieve your goals of building or improving a community in his 2016 book, The Art of Community. He covers everything from the beginning stages of community development to the roles and responsibilities of leaders. Read below for a brief The Art of Community book overview.

How to Build a Community: The 3 Building Blocks

Have you ever wondered how to establish a new community? What kind of guidelines does a community need? Building a community requires establishing the fundamental components that bring your community together. In The Art of Community, Charles Vogl defines what a community is and discusses the three basic building blocks of a community. Keep reading to learn how to build a community that brings people together.

What Defines a Community? Understanding the Key Features

What defines a community? What are the basic requirements of a community? According to Charles Vogl, a community is a formal or informal collective of people who care about each other and support each other’s growth. Within communities, people develop culture through meaningful relationships. Keep reading to learn more about what makes a community special.

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s Relationship Secrets

What was Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s relationship like? How did the relationship work against Spears’s favor? Spears and Timberlake dated from 1999 to 2002. In her memoir The Woman in Me, Spears reveals shocking details about their relationship, including a hidden abortion and how the media turned against her after their split. Continue reading to learn more about the tumultuous relationship.

Barriers to Teamwork: Why We Avoid Working in Teams

What are common barriers to teamwork? Why do people avoid teams, even when teams are more effective than working alone? Barriers to teamwork include ego, insecurity about performing, underestimation of task difficulty, and overall personality. If you can understand where these come from, you can begin to understand how to overcome them. Discover why people may resist working in teams and how you can encourage teamwork.