WHAT IS true family?

Artist: Joseph Barker

The May Topic of Conversation is True Family. We have all been born into a family and the majority of us have grown up within that family nucleus however, from what one understands from listening to other people’s personal accounts of their family life, our experiences of family can be very different from each other, even different from our siblings and cousins who are part of the same family group.

Some of us may feel virtually unscathed by family life having developed ongoing close relationships with our family members while others of us would not describe our family life as harmonious or supportive at all, resulting in us feeling unlovable and isolated from the family unit and often from society in general. In fact, if we look at the rates of domestic violence, incest and homicides that happen in the home then we have to ask ourselves; ‘What needs to change to allow for a more supportive way to live together as a family unit in our society?’

For a more in-depth look at this month’s topic of conversation, you may like to read two of our new articles where the authors have shared some of their own insights; Sandra in her article, “Grand-Smothering” and Judy’s article, “True Family – Communal Living in My Seventies”.

We are inviting our readers to share with us their own understanding of what a true family looks like to them. We are asking the question, In a true family, how would we be raised, how would we relate to each to other in a way that would ensure we grow up feeling loved, nurtured and appreciated for who we truly are?