It's true times are scary right now economically. Many of us have had to make adjustments to our budgets and lifestyles to accommodate the changes in the economy. When there are feelings of uncertainty in our lives, it's a natural response to not want to go through it alone; our desire to date and look for love can be even stronger than usual. But contrary to this emotional desire, our "intellectual" side may be telling us to put our dating life on hold while there's a recession going on. At the end of the day however, wouldn't we all agree… more

Have you ever been in a blue mood and not known why? Or felt down and haven't been able to pull yourself out of it? It's easy these days to be overwhelmed by our circumstances and stressed about money, family, work etc., but as "they" say, most of the time it's mind over matter! It can even "feel good" to be sad or angry sometimes, often because it's an emotion you feel comfortable and used to being in. Some of us train ourselves to expect the end result to our situations is more often negative, so instead of being surprised… more

Telling lies is something we've all done, and probably all do on occasion - some of us more than others of course. By definition, a lie is a form of deception, which contains three characteristics:
the liar intends to mislead or deceive, their lie communicates some information, and the liar knows what they're saying is not true. Morally and ethically, we all "know" lying is wrong. However,
the very fact that we classify lies into different types (bad lies, dangerous lies, white lies, good lies), means lying is not a simple black and white issue, and one with… more

With the recent faltering of the corporate power structure, we are now forced to re-evaluate not only our world and how it's working as a whole, but ourselves as individuals, and how we fit into it all. When the so-called foundations of our social and economic blueprints fail, we can, and should, find ourselves getting back to the basics about who we are, and how we contribute to the world. All we need to do is take a quick look around to realize we're failing as human beings on some level. While this may seem overwhelming, or "not my problem",… more

Our social and economic climates are going through great states of change these days. When such huge shifts happen, especially when they seem to be happening globally, we as a society can feel a strong and collective sense of unease. Most human beings tend to resist change, but we live in a world where everything does change constantly, so this creates a lot of conflict. The trick of course, is to make sure we as individuals are not going through constant inner conflict, so we don't project this feeling onto the people around us; our feelings are contagious, no matter… more

It's easy when we're first attracted to someone, to let ourselves imagine them as that perfect person we'd always hoped we'd meet one day. Growing up in a culture where love is over-idealized in movies, fairytales and music, it's no surprise that we often let our imaginations eclipse the reality - that love is only one important ingredient in a successful relationship. Our emotional backgrounds, our culture, and our personal expectations all play a large part in the success of our relationships, whether we care to admit it or not. So what can we do to make sure our relationship… more

Finally, the first signs of Spring have arrived! And with this warmer weather, comes a sense of new possibilities, fresh starts, and renewed optimism, not only about life in general, but
about our dating life. So how are we doing on our New Year's Resolutions - did we follow through this year? If your resolutions were seemingly a passing fancy, the Springtime is a great time to renew our initial hopes and plans for the coming year. But how prepared are we to take advantage of any positive opportunities that may come our way? Now is a great time… more

We've all experienced episodes of jealousy in our lives. Closely linked to envy, jealousy, according to clinical psychologist Ayala Malach Pines, "is a complex reaction to a perceived threat to a valued relationship or to its quality". But unlike envy which usually centres around a desire to have something possessed by another, jealousy always involves three people, and a fear of loss.

The reason jealousy is such a complex reaction is due to the fact it encompasses so many thoughts, emotions and behaviors:

Thoughts: blame, comparison of yourself to the rival, resentment, self-pity, insecurity about self-image
Emotions: fear,… more

Proper communication is one of the corner-stones of a healthy relationship. Like many of the fundamentals, it's a skill we tend to learn by osmosis as children, the level of that skill having a lot to do with who we grew up around. Children usually model themselves after their same-sex parent, and adopt many of that particular parent's characteristics in their quest to find their own person. These characteristics are often ingrained by family and societal dynamics, and stay with us into adulthood. This helps to explain why we see generations of men who are "emotionally unavailable", and generations of… more

In honour of the upcoming St. Valentine's Day - it might prove worthwhile to take a good look at our own relationship to Love itself. It's something we all seem to crave, it's often not what we expected, and it can take us to the highest of highs and the lowest of lows... Humans are a habitual species. We often formulate an unhealthy view of what we think love should be based on our past experiences. If we're conscious enough however, we realize we need to make a change. Because love is about relating to other people directly, it's in… more