Spring Cleaning My Relationships

The end of spring and the onset of summer is a wonderful time to strengthen the relationships in your life and also to rid yourself of negative relationships. When I say “relationships” that encompasses family, friends, and romantic partners. Today’s post wont be super long (hopefully) so I’ll jump right in!

Family

As a child I spent every day of my life with my family. Now as an adult I haven’t lived at home for the past 6 years. Overtime I don’t stop missing my family I just adjust to a new normal. I come from a large extended family. While I only have one sister and one brother I have over 10 aunts and uncles and 50+ cousins. It’s impossible to stay in touch with all of them but what I do is:

• Facebook – Overtime I feel like facebook has become more of a family social network. I have all of my family added on there so they can see pictured from my life and I can keep abreast on what is going on in theirs. Mind you, I keep my facebook pretty PG because I don’t think my grandparents need to see pictures of me turning up on New Years eve.  
• Text/FaceTime – We live in a digital age so texting is like a more convenient phone call and facetime is basically visiting someone and sitting in the living room to chat. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it shows that you’re thinking about them. This can go for friendships also.
• Visits – If you have family that lives close, give them a visit. Or if you have family that visits your city, set aside some time to see them. Even if just for 20 minutes, it’s good to see a familiar face.

Friends

For friends I also would say to text/FaceTime and to visit as well. The difference with friends is that I keep up with mine on social media like twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. I also try to plan times when I can go visit my friends or they can come visit me. Other things you can do to clean up friendships that may have fallen off due to each party being busy are:

• Brunch – Who doesn’t love endless mimosas and amazing food? Invite a friend out to brunch to catch up.
• Events – Recently a friend suggested that we go to AfroPunk fest in NY this August. Events are just fun and you cultivate those lasting memories with loved ones that are priceless.
• Plan a trip – A weekend getaway might be just what everyone needs to relax, unwind, and catch up on what everyone has been going. Even if you go somewhere a couple of hours away there are bound to be tons of funny moments, great sights, and “Aww I missed you guys” moments.

Romantic Partner

Obviously with a romantic partner all of the above things apply to them as well because I view a romantic partner as both family and a friend. If you’ve been with your partner for a while like I have, or even if your relationship is newer, here are some fun ways to keep things fresh:

• Vacation – My gf and I make it a point to take a week long vacation together every year. Getting away allows us that time to bond and experience new sights and places with each other without the stress of work/school/chores/etc.
• Visit YOUR friends – In relationships it is easy for each other’s friends to become “mutual friends”. However, it is still important to spend individual time with those friends that you brought to the relationship. Your friends may not be comfortable opening up about super personal things in front of your partner and that’s ok. Plus the alone time with your friends allows for you to revisit those memories and inside jokes that you may have without your partner feeling awkward.
• Hobbies – You can each take up individual hobbies or you can try one together. My gf and I are starting a vegetable garden on our balcony this year. I’ve already warned her that I have a black thumb but hopefully she has the magic touch to make those plants thrive.
• Summer bucket List – Yes, I have one of these too. We put on there places we want to visit and things we want to do. Your list can have anything on it from try new restaurants to visit all of the local monuments or national sites where you live. You could even plan to start and finish the entire series of a show that neither of you have seen before.

Hopefully trying out these things will strengthen your relationships and bring you closer to your loved ones. Let me know if you have any other things that you like to do to spend time with the ones you cherish. I’ll talk to yall tomorrow for the very last installment in this Spring Cleaning series where I will talk about how I plan to clean up my blog/website. They say to save the best for last and…well you can be the judge :)

~Tea