A
concept that caught my eye from this week’s assigned reading was from chapter
one. The inevitability of conflict, or that conflict is a fact of life, really
interested me. An example that the authors used was about “roommate” problems
with a husband. It made me think back to my freshmen year here at SJSU with my
roommate. We never actually had an argument, but there was definitely some
difficulty getting used to the way each of us lived. Even now, I live in my
sorority house with 48 other women where we switch rooms/roommates every
semester. Each semester we need to adjust to each other, which can occasionally
cause conflict with small chores and such. There will always be conflict in
peoples’ lives caused simply by small annoyances and pet peeves that we have.
As the textbook states, the closer you are with a person, the more conflicts
occur, the more small problems become larger problems, and the more intense
your feelings are. It’s difficult to avoid conflict, but there are definitely
routes around it.
I agree that in many instances conflict is unavoidable. I think the reading brought this idea out, but I was looking for to see if conflict was just a reaction to that which we have not become accustomed. It seems to me that people do have conflicts with each other and eventually learn to cope, but that the process of coping comes with the idea that people learn to adjust, evolve or become willing to work with that which seems to be so much more different than what they are used to in their everyday experience. I think it would have been helpful for the reading to expand the idea that the perceptions we create ultimately lead us into conflict with those interactions that do not "match" the patterns of existence that we have created for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteHi California Girl,
ReplyDeleteI liked the concept that you picked to discuss and found that interesting as well. Conflict is something that is a fact of life and will always be around. Like you mentioned, even the little things or pet peeves can cause conflict between people. I thought the book had a good example of it as well. Unlike you, I haven’t had to deal with roommates but have heard stories from others and can see how conflict would occur from tiny pointless things. It’s an instinct got humans and will always occur. There are ways to help ease it and not make it such a big deal. The people involved in it have to work together to get over the issues. I so think that the closer you are with a person, the more conflicts occur. Great concept that you wrote about.
California Girl I could not agree with your comment more. It is very true that the closer you are to someone the smaller issues become the larger ones and the more passionate your feelings can be. It is funny how you were relating the concept to living in a sorority house because I feel the same way with dancing in a company with 15 other girls. We have guys in our company as well but obviously the conflicts always arise with the girls due to the fact that we spend more time with each other than we do with our friends from school and sometimes even our family members. Even though these things happen we are all one big family be it that we take class together almost every day and rehearse for hours on end and perform together. I find that issues come up with simple things such as sharing costumes for different casts or there can even be small annoyances such as girls borrowing makeup from someone else without asking or hogging the bathroom stall when they can change in their dressing room. No matter what may happen we have to learn to work together and adjust because say if we are dancing in the corps if one girl is off the whole routine is off because we have to move as one.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia Girl,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your post and how you related it back to your life with roommates! I had a horrible experience with a roommate when I was a freshman at a different school in another state, where conflict and tension were present! I know how you feel, and you're right, there will always be conflict in our lives but we can find avenues to deal with it in a helpful way. That line in the book also stood out to me about how the closer we are with someone the more intense our conflicts can be. So interesting to think about! Thanks for a great post!
Hey there! I like how you picked this concept to talk about because I thought that this was pretty interesting as well. I don’t think we can really get away from conflict because it has always been around. I think we are in some kind of conflict every single day of our lives. Whether it is a big thing or a small conflict, it is all a part of our daily life. I remember I use to get into arguments with my cousin, who I live with, all the time because we would butt heads with each other. My best friend and I always get into arguments and fights because we get piss off at each other about little things. But because of these little conflicts and arguments it helps strengthen our relationship with each other. Anyways, great posts this week!!
ReplyDelete