Week of November 5-11 - Question 3

A subject that I found really interesting in this chapter was that of navigation. Navigation is a process of commitment to your partner that involves going through hardships, good times and bad, as well as dealing with unpleasant surprises. I’ve noticed that many couples don’t successfully navigate their relationships well nowadays. Divorce is very common and it’s rare to see a couple successfully navigate through life unless it’s in a movie. Many couples don’t know how to keep intimacy alive in a relationship after a good amount of time. This is where relational culture comes in, which is an underground world consisting of rules, patterns, understandings, and interpreting what partners need to do in their relationships. It involves ways that couples manage their relational dialectics that include rules and rituals as well as everyday interaction. Another part of navigating is placemaking, which is the process of creating a comfortable personal environment that reflects the values and tastes of the couple.