USA Today opens A.J. Jacobs’ journey as revealed in his The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. Carol Memmott writes (excerpt): Biggest lesson? “Your behavior shapes your beliefs. If you…
Celebrating a moment a day keeps the divorce lawyer away
CNN/Oprahpresent “8 entirely new ideas about love.” As corny as the title sounds, it’s really worth a read. Everyone would benefit by knowing this tidbit (excerpt): A new study has found that the way you respond to your partner’s good…
Engaging in risky behavior
USAToday reports on census data detailing marriage and divorce statistics. Sharon Jayson writes (excerpt): More than 70% of those who married since 1970 celebrated a 10th anniversary. That statistic — one of many released Wednesday by the U.S. Census —…
Romantic visions
Redbook reveals “8 Things No One Tells You About Marriage” (excerpt): I still struggle as a work in progress. But I am completely clear in the knowledge that many of the deepest frustrations in your relationship are an opportunity for…
Couples therapy, intimacy & croutons
The New York Times looks deeply into couples therapy and the road to saving a marriage. Laurie Abraham writes (excerpt): . . . But what I discovered sitting in on this couples group for a year is that every family…
Understanding and respecting your fiancee’s choices
CNN/Oprah raises the matters that come after “Will you marry me?” and “Yes.” Susan Piver poses questions about: income and spending house and yard care, cleanliness and organization financial goals work hours ambitions sexuality and desires meals, shopping, cooking, cleaning…
Lord of a Ring
The New York Times includes memories of lost rings, now and then. Erwin R. Tiongson writes (excerpt): I have worn my wedding ring every single day since my wedding more than seven years ago. I had never misplaced it before.…
Déjà “I do”
USA Today explains the challenge facing second-time-around couples. Olivia Barker writes (excerpt): The quandary couples face is “how to balance telling people, ‘Oh, please come again, please come to our wedding,’ with, ‘We know you just came to one, but…
As couple, whole
The New York Times distinguishes between being compatible and being complementary. Amy Sohn wties (excerpt): At the time I was seeing a 92-year-old Austrian psychoanalyst, and whenever I expressed concern about the financial inequity of my relationship, he would shake…
Responding to stress
USA Today reveals how to reduce the harmful effects of worrying, including: Writing out your feelings about stressful experiences. Spending time with friends who prefer problem solving over hand-wringing. Meditating or praying. Working on forgiveness. Lowering unrealistic expectations.
Accentuate the positive
The New York Times highlights an opportunity to improve your relationship: embrace the positive events in your partner’s life. Benedict Carey writes (excerpt): But the way that partners respond to each other’s triumphs may be even more important for the…
How can we save marriage?
The NEw York Times includes an op-ed on the emotional connections and personal fulfilment. Stephanie Coontz writes (excerpt): Instead, we should raise our expectations for, and commitment to, other relationships, especially since so many people now live so much of…
The forms of domestic abuse
Rob Scuka, Ph.D. identifies two forms of domestic violence in the “Checklist for Differentiating Two Different Forms of Interpersonal Violence.” In his introduction to the checklist, Scuka writes (excerpt): Broadly speaking, the following distinctions can be made. With classic cases…
Rewriting history
The New York Times discusses patterns of deceit in teenage sex surveys. That phenomenon extends to our perceptions of relationships, marriage and divorce. Consider the excerpt below in light of our human tendancy to rewrite our personal history. Eric Nagourney…
Bringing toward perfection
The New York Times illustrates how the differences between partners can drive each other crazy or move them to embrace each other as the perfect complement. Catherine Lloyd Burns writes (excerpt): But crossing the street I make a startling realization:…
All about friendship
The BBC celebrates Winnie the Pooh, as he turns 80 (excerpt): Charlie Cain, head of brand management for Walt Disney’s Europe operation, puts the books continuing appeal down to Milne’s “pretty timeless” characters. “Whenever we do research into the reasons…
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes . . .
NPR profiles marriage and the federal government’s Healthy Families Initiative with a series of stories on: Teaching Marriage to Welfare Moms (Oklahoma program for women on welfare) ‘The Four Horsemen’: Why Marriages Fail (four key problems that lead to divorce:…
Love or money?
The New York Times carries an op-ed on the heterosexual revolution, in which marriage went from a mandatory economic and political institution to a voluntary love relationship. Stephanie Coontz writes (excerpt): Giving married women an independent legal existence did not…
Friends bring benefits (life expectancy)
The BBC highlights research showing friends add years to your life (excerpt): Good friends promise to be there for you, and their presence can actually help you live longer, researchers say. Australian scientists said having friends around in old age…
People who need people
The New York Times tells of the power of kindness and the ties that bind. Matt Richtel writes (excerpt): In scenes exhibiting a vivid range of feelings – acrimony, compassion, rekindled love, abiding friendship – sick and dying Americans are…