Interpersonal Communication - Personal Entry

I would say that I have a pretty good relationship with my family, my friends, and God. In order to maintain such relationships I do rely on the top three behaviors according to Fehr (pg.258). These three behaviors include self-disclosure, supportiveness, and spending time together.
Self-disclosure is about being open with the other persons in the relationship. In particular, I believe the relationship that matters the most to me would be family. Back in high school, I came to realize how busy and also how busy the rest of my family became. Being that my sister and I were so caught up with school and my parents were caught up with work we no longer went out as a family as much as we used due to conflicting schedules. We used to have bigger family gatherings to grill at the beach or there are times when my parents, younger sister, and I would just go out to the movies or drive around the island and eat out at favorite local food places. Thinking back to my childhood, I noticed how I became so accustomed to being such a family-oriented person.
Tubbs and Moss as well as other theorists describe the family as a system. It is not necessarily about individuals who comprise a family but a whole group that rely on each other to be a system that practices effective communication which leads to a powerful and worthwhile relationship. I am definitely grateful for the family that I have regardless of how separated I may be from some of my relatives. I have relatives in the Philippines, in Canada, London, Dubai, California, and Nevada. Most of all, I am glad I have the parents that I have today because they were persistent in making sure that I strive to be a successful individual in life. Although there were times when I felt like my dad was being a little pushy about academics I eventually learned it was for my own benefit. I think a family is not only about being blood-related or related by law but it is about helping one another and in most cases a family can help a individual discover their own identity and their values.
I have learned to be proud of my Catholic faith, to feel humble about living in this generation and not having to go through the hardships my grandparents had back in the day, and I learned to be glad that I have two loving parents who are still together and a younger sister that looks up to me as a role model. To be in the presence of a caring family affected me in a positive way. There are times when I am sorry to hear when things are not going so well with my friends' families or if they have a great loss. Going back to the text it is quoted that "family systems not only remain the same, they also change, sometimes suddenly" and I am sure at this moment things are slowly shifting in my relationship with my family as I am away from home here in college and typing this very blog, while back home in Hawaii I am missing out on going to mass with my family and having our big Sunday breakfasts. :)