Relationships make you who you are? Yes! Relationships are everything. Find out how:
You are created for relationships and formed by them
What makes you what you are? In the past several decades various people and institutions in the fields of biology, psychology, sociology, science of the brain, and the like, have obtained greater insight into how we become who we are. The current research has revealed that roughly forty percent of who we are comes from the genes we inherit from both sides of our biological parents. The other sixty percent of our composition comes from our experiences and relationships. Primarly those on whic we focus our attention.
You are who you are in large measure because of the relationships you have had up until now and you will become what you will be because of your current and future relationships. The connections and interactions you have with others will be highly influential in your ever-changing life, far more so than you doing anything “alone” for your personal self-development!
Two main reasons for this are that you are created for relationships and you are formed by relationships.
Here are three crucial things to know about relationships:
1. We are Created for Relationships
Yep, that’s right! You and I are made for relationships.
Daniel J. Siegel in his fascinating book, Mindsight, puts it clearly, “We come into the world wired to make connections with one another, and the subsequent neural shaping of our brain, the very foundation of our sense of self, is built upon these intimate exchanges between the infant and her caregivers. In the early years this interpersonal regulation is essential for survival, but throughout our lives we continue to need such connections for a sense of vitality and well-being” (Mindsight, Kindle location 383).
Goleman in another book, The Brain and Emotional Intelligence reveals that, “The social brain includes a multitude of circuitry, all designed to attune to and interact with another person’s brain” (Kindle location 639).
He goes on to explain how certain nerve cells found all over our brains, called “mirror neurons,” help us to “wirelessly connect” with other people. While the scientific research is still debating mirror neurons, Goleman says these mirror neurons “activate in us exactly what we see in the other person: their emotions, their movements, and even their intentions” (Kindle location, 650).
Here’s an article for you: First direct recording made of mirror neurons in human brain
2. We Are Made By Relationships
You and I are literally formed by relationships we have.
Daniel Goleman makes this case in his writings, particularly in Social Intelligence.
He demonstrates that, “To a surprising extent, then, our relationships mold not just our experience but our biology” (Social Intelligence, Kindle location 79).
What is amazing is that relationships are an integral part of how your brain and body are fashioned. Every single relationship you have had so far has been a part in how you have been formed, even down to the nerve and cellular level!
Quoting Siegel again,
It wasn’t until years later that I would come upon the research demonstrating how crucial it is to our development to have at least some relationships that are attuned, in which we feel we are held within another person’s internal world, in their head and in their heart—relationships that help us thrive and give us resilience. And only later still did I learn how the neural networks around the heart and throughout the body are intimately interwoven with the resonance circuits in the brain—so that when we “feel felt” by another it also helps us to develop the internal strength of self-regulation, to become focused, thoughtful, and resourceful. Being close to someone early in our lives gives us the clarity to know how we feel, and the ability to feel close to others. Long before researchers began to unravel these neural mechanisms, poets and children like Rebecca knew that the heart is indeed a wise source of knowing.
(Mindsight, Kindle location 2999)
Goleman agrees, “But the exquisite social responsiveness of the brain demands that we realize that not just our own emotions but our very biology is being driven and molded, for better or for worse, by others—and in turn, that we take responsibility for how we affect the people in our lives” (Social Intelligence, Kindle location 5696).
This is why it is so crucial to have healthy, intimate relational interaction between a child and a loving parent in her first three to five years of life. In fact, very poor or neglectful relationships can cause serious brain and relational impairment. Check out this article: See the Real Impact of Love or the Lack of It. Frequent nurturing and caring engagement between the primary caregiver(s) and the child significantly impacts the child’s biology, brain formation and intelligence quotient. Relationships also create the ability to form healthy bonds in relationships, the development of emotional maturity and social intelligence, and set the young one on a path toward an overall healthy lifestyle (all things positively considered).
For additional reading see the latest books on attachment and development.
So, what you are is in large part due to the relationships you have had thus far in life.
The final take-away idea is,
3. We are Nothing Without Them
The picture we often see in science fiction movies where humans are manufactured from embryonic cells into fully functioning adults within some sort of independent tube is quite mythical. Aliens or mad scientists might be able to produce physical bodies but without both experience and interactive relationships the bodies would not have acquired the necessary cellular and neurological connections needed to make them truly human. That is because experiences and relationships shape and weave the essential materials into what makes us human.
In other words, you and others have a symbiotic relationship. You need others and others need you. Without interaction with others you would not be fully you! The primary relationship begins with God. The next most important relationship we need is from our respective mothers or primary caregiver. In tandum with those relationships are our fathers. Then come other significant relationships who weave in and out of our lives.
Since we will be exploring much more about this symbiosis in future posts and eBooks, why not sign up and follow Relavate today? That way you won't miss anything.
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