Our relationships and our mental health are deeply connected. In many ways, they are the single most connected element to whether or not we consider ourselves happy and fulfilled, or detached and unsatisfied. We’re wired to connect to others from the time we’re babies. Social connectedness is what drives every part of our lives - family, friends, significant others, colleagues, classmates - nearly every setting we are put in is dependent on our connectedness to those around us. It explains why the discomfort of moving away, whether for college, a new job or a fresh start, can be so tough. It also explains the sense of gratitude and ‘filled cup’ feeling you get when you are together with many people you hold close.
If you ask your parents, they will likely tell you that relationships now are vastly different than when they were in their teens, twenties and thirties. The way we interact with each other, and the volume in which we do it, has changed in medium and amount drastically in the past two decades. On top of that, the Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped our personal relationships in unprecedented ways, forcing us to live closer together with some people and further apart from others. Life in lockdown has necessitated close, constant contact with our families and partners, but social distancing measures have isolated us from our friends and wider communities.
Having close, positive relationships can give us a purpose and sense of belonging. Recognizing the importance of good relationships and defining new ways of developing and maintaining strong social connections are integral to our wellbeing, yet it can be hard to adapt and address the change that naturally occurs as we go through different stages of our lives. Our circles change, our jobs and family situations change, where we live changes, our relationships with spirituality often change too. For many of you listening, when your parents were your age or younger, the average 21 year old was married and caring for a new baby. Careers spanned decades for many; and it was commonplace for most young parents to focus on making money and building a family. There seemed to be a natural progression, twenty-somethings moved from being sons and daughters to being husbands and wives, growing up and taking on responsibility immediately after their schooling. Yet, in just a few decades, the twenty-something years turned from being defined by responsibility and adulthood into one defined by experimentation and, increasingly in the last 18-months in particular, uncertainty.
In this episode, we have a conversation with Kari-Shane Davis Zimmerman, an Associate Professor of Theology and Co-Director of the First Year Experience at CSB/SJU. She specializes in the areas of Catholic and Christian sexual ethics. Her scholarly work examines the influence of hookup culture on college students’ views and the formation of intimate relationships. She has been teaching at CSB/SJU since 2004.
Kari-Shane encourages students to reach out to her - as she says, her door is "always open":
Email: [email protected]
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By CSB/SJU Young Alums
5
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Our relationships and our mental health are deeply connected. In many ways, they are the single most connected element to whether or not we consider ourselves happy and fulfilled, or detached and unsatisfied. We’re wired to connect to others from the time we’re babies. Social connectedness is what drives every part of our lives - family, friends, significant others, colleagues, classmates - nearly every setting we are put in is dependent on our connectedness to those around us. It explains why the discomfort of moving away, whether for college, a new job or a fresh start, can be so tough. It also explains the sense of gratitude and ‘filled cup’ feeling you get when you are together with many people you hold close.
If you ask your parents, they will likely tell you that relationships now are vastly different than when they were in their teens, twenties and thirties. The way we interact with each other, and the volume in which we do it, has changed in medium and amount drastically in the past two decades. On top of that, the Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped our personal relationships in unprecedented ways, forcing us to live closer together with some people and further apart from others. Life in lockdown has necessitated close, constant contact with our families and partners, but social distancing measures have isolated us from our friends and wider communities.
Having close, positive relationships can give us a purpose and sense of belonging. Recognizing the importance of good relationships and defining new ways of developing and maintaining strong social connections are integral to our wellbeing, yet it can be hard to adapt and address the change that naturally occurs as we go through different stages of our lives. Our circles change, our jobs and family situations change, where we live changes, our relationships with spirituality often change too. For many of you listening, when your parents were your age or younger, the average 21 year old was married and caring for a new baby. Careers spanned decades for many; and it was commonplace for most young parents to focus on making money and building a family. There seemed to be a natural progression, twenty-somethings moved from being sons and daughters to being husbands and wives, growing up and taking on responsibility immediately after their schooling. Yet, in just a few decades, the twenty-something years turned from being defined by responsibility and adulthood into one defined by experimentation and, increasingly in the last 18-months in particular, uncertainty.
In this episode, we have a conversation with Kari-Shane Davis Zimmerman, an Associate Professor of Theology and Co-Director of the First Year Experience at CSB/SJU. She specializes in the areas of Catholic and Christian sexual ethics. Her scholarly work examines the influence of hookup culture on college students’ views and the formation of intimate relationships. She has been teaching at CSB/SJU since 2004.
Kari-Shane encourages students to reach out to her - as she says, her door is "always open":
Email: [email protected]