Everywhere I go I overhear conversations. The women and men at the hairdresser’s talk about selfish people. The men at the coffee shop banter about not understanding women’s thinking. The people at the bookstore are musing over failed relationships and marriages. The mothers and fathers at the playground anguish over children fighting, tantruming, pouting, being pushovers and not sharing. Older people at the assisted living facility wonder about romance and how to find the right partner for old age living. Everywhere and at all times people are perplexed by themselves, others and their relationships.
When I give classes to older, retired people on relationships and personalities, I use mainstream movies to view the problems people have in their families, with co-workers, in romance and with friends. The classes fill up immediately with waiting people demanding a waiting list for dropouts. Other people corner me to get a commitment that I will teach the class again and soon! It seems many people of all ages, sexes, and genders want to achieve greater insight into why they think and behave as the do. Almost everyone is perplexed by human interactions.
It is interesting that we teach children through young adult ages reading, literature, sciences, music, dance, math, history, and how to work computers and videogames. Yet, we have no organized and systemic way for teaching self-knowledge and how we function in our relationships. This is a glaring omission, as listening to any conversation will tell you.
