Read on to see that in even the stickiest of circumstances, courtesy and a quick wit can save the day!
On the Tonight show in the US recently, viewers were in stitches as they heard stories about first dates that had been a disaster. TV show host Jay Leno recently went into the audience in search of the most embarrassing first date that a woman ever had. Continue reading
Appy iphones!
SINGLE? WOULD YOU TAP AN APP TO FIND LOVE?!
Last Friday evening I was interviewed on ABC radio 702 by Robbie Buck. Our chat followed his discussion with the owner of one of the phone apps recently made available to assist singles on the lookout for love. A concept initially created for the gay population, this new app alerts a user when another member of the app database is in their vicinity. Continue reading
Be aware of The Peacock Phenomenon!As consultants to singles seeking partners, at Yvonne Allen and Associates we learn a lot about our clients…and about things that can make or break a potential relationship…through the feedback we receive after they meet someone for the first time. Many happy couples who have partnered the Yvonne Allen way would not have met for a second time if we had not intervened after reading their respective feedback. They would both have grown cobwebs waiting for the other to make the next move, doubting that they had impressed! Continue reading
Could friendship be the essential foundation for the future of relationships…and our society??
I read with interest and concern the Special Report ‘Families under threat’ in the Herald Sun, 9/10/11.
I was not surprised by predictions it contained that the nuclear family unit is buckling under modern pressures. and that increasingly vast numbers of Australians will be living in homes alone….estimated to be 31% by 2026 if current trends continue. Indeed, as can be seen from several of my previous blogs, e.g. …I believe this dramatic change in our social profile is something that must be recognised – and addressed – if we are to have a happy society rather than one plagued by loneliness and social isolation. Continue reading
….How often do you take time to ask this question!
In Australia on September 15, we were encouraged to ask others who may seem to be unhappy or depressed, how they were feeling. RUOK? Day is a wonderful initiative that highlights the importance – and potentially life-saving power – of caring for others. However, it seems to me that an equally vital yet all too often overlooked question, and one that we should be encouraged to ask ourselves is Am I OK? Continue reading
Is this why relationships seem as disposable as tissues today?
Once upon a time – only decades ago – when we met our mate and married we made vows to stay together as a couple. Whether the commitment to share life proved to be for better or for worse or for richer or poorer most stayed together until death they did part.
How times have changed! These days the high divorce rate tells tale of distress and disillusion for over 40% of couples who have made marriage vows to be together for ‘a lifetime’. While we may not have the stats to reveal the percentage of de facto relationships that also end on the rocks despite their apparent commitment to each other, the number is likely to be much higher. Continue reading
Has Penny Wong got it more right than wrong?
I have read with interest com
ments in the press following the announcement by Penny Wong Finance Minister, Commonwealth Government of Australia and her partner Sophie Albouache that they are expecting a child. Instead of the congratulations most parents-to-be receive, this happy couple have also been subjected to questionable criticism…as is evident in an article by Miranda Devine in the Sunday Herald Sun, August 14 with the header Nuclear units still best for children.
According to Devine many of today’s problems – and in particular the current rioting in the UK – are a consequence of women raising children without a father. It is her view that only a married heterosexual couple in a nuclear unit household should bear and raise children and that any variation on this model is not beneficial to a child or for our society. Yet the nuclear family that she sees as best for children is a new phenomenon…coinciding with many of the issues apparent in relationships and society today. Continue reading
For a rapidly growing number of men and women, living life solo seems to have become a conscious choice yet for millions of others this is not the case. So if you have created a successful life as a single but would prefer to share life with a partner take some comfort knowing you’re not alone!
We only have to look at the current boom in businesses created to bring singles together to realise that there are vast numbers of people who would like to meet that special someone. In 1976 when I first opened the doors of my consultancy, it was considered odd for an educated professional like myself to seemingly turn my back on a promising career in psychology to work with ‘lonely hearts’, ‘the desperate and dateless’. Not so now!
Today, in most cities in the western world the stigma associated with finding it hard to meet a partner has gone. There are seemingly endless options for singles seeking to connect be this via matchmaking, speed dating, social clubs, lunch clubs, dinners for singles, suppers for singles – the list seems endless! Continue reading
What might this mean for the future of relationships?
Given my concern for the future of relationships, my blogs will often explore reasons I see for the apparent breakdown in the bonds that once held us together. I was therefore Interested and disturbed – but not surprised – to read in the Sydney Morning Herald, July 20, that in a recent survey conducted by Relationships Australia, 30% of those aged 25 to 34 indicated they were frequently lonely, far more than any other age group. The second most lonely were those aged 18-24, 19% of them stating they were frequently lonely.
Source SMH July 20, 201
It is ironic that a major reason for so many who are under 35 feeling lonely today is the connectivity that the internet and mobile technology makes possible! As the survey revealed there are strong links between a tendency to connect online with loneliness. Continue reading
Message sent not message received?
For many a woman, high on her expectations of a partner is that he be willing and able to share his feelings – and to understand and appreciate hers – as if a woman. Alas it is likely that the man in question will unintentionally cause her disappointment time and time again.
Many relationships fail because we do not recognise that gender differences rather than lack of feeling love, caring and respect cause much of our misunderstanding and distress. All too often while women want a man to be masculine, we assume that he experiences things as we do when he does not.
In our relationships with men, we all too readily ignore the fact that our biology is different can be the cause unintentional upset. For example, awareness of feelings – be they his own or another’s – is not likely to be a guy’s strong suit when it comes to communicating with his partner and meeting her needs. Continue reading
