{"id":1513,"date":"2023-02-23T11:07:06","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T16:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/?p=1513"},"modified":"2023-02-23T11:10:53","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T16:10:53","slug":"platonic-love-the-importance-of-friendships-by-dylan-hines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/2023\/02\/23\/platonic-love-the-importance-of-friendships-by-dylan-hines\/","title":{"rendered":"Platonic Love & the Importance of Friendships by Dylan Hines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s February! Love is in the air and, perhaps more importantly, discounted candy is on the shelves. Around Valentine\u2019s Day each year, we see a lot of focus in movies  tv shows, music, and even in advertisements on romantic love and finding \u201cthe one.\u201d <\/em>Romantic love can be great and is a big part of many people\u2019s lives, but it is not the only type of love!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does love mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Platonic love<\/strong> is a close relationship between two or more people that is not romantic or physical in nature. When dominant culture teaches  that \u201crelationships = romance\u201d it can feel a bit strange to say, but simply put, platonic love is close, meaningful friendships. Platonic love exists among people who are trusting, who care for each other, and who help each other grow. Platonic love features emotional and intellectual intimacy in which people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, feelings, and experiences with each other without judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans are social beings; we aren\u2019t meant to go through life alone.  That is why friendships and other forms of relationships are so important to our mental and emotional wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes a healthy relationship?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether your relationship with a person is a romantic one, a friendship, a family relationship, or any other kind, you deserve to be treated with kindness and respect. We often hear people talk about \u201ctoxic relationships\u201d in the dating world and unfortunately, friendships and family relationships can sometimes be toxic too. So, what are some signs of a healthy relationship between people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The OneLove Foundation<\/a> lists 10 signs of a healthy relationship:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Moving at a comfortable pace<\/em> without pressure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Trust<\/em> comes easily, privacy is respected, and there is no need to \u201ctest\u201d loyalty.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. People can be honest<\/em> with each other about their thoughts and feelings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Each person has room to be independent<\/em>, and be their own hobbies and interests outside of the relationship.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Each person\u2019s beliefs, opinions, and boundaries are respected.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. There is equality<\/em> in the relationship, meaning each person puts the same effort into the relationship. It may not always look like a 50-50 split, but the outcome feels equitable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Each person treats the other(s) with kindness<\/em> and compassion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Each person takes responsibility<\/em> for their own actions and words, especially when they may cause harm.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. When there is conflict<\/em>, making sure it is handled in a healthy way without insults or yelling.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. You have fun<\/em>! No relationship is 100% fun all of the time, but healthy relationships should make you feel happy and feel good about yourself.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Learn more:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What It Means to Have Platonic Love<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    10 Signs of a Healthy Relationship – One Love Foundation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    10 Signs of an Unhealthy Relationship – One Love Foundation<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    6 Rules for Healthy Friendships | Psychology Today<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    11 Tips for Talking to Teens About Friendship<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It\u2019s February! Love is in the air and, perhaps more importantly, discounted candy is on the shelves. Around Valentine\u2019s Day each year, we see a lot of focus in movies  tv shows, music, and even in advertisements on romantic love and finding \u201cthe one.\u201d Romantic love can be great and is a big part of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":1514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[13,12,11],"class_list":["post-1513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellnessblog","tag-friendship","tag-platonic-love","tag-valentines-day"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1515,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513\/revisions\/1515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ced.ncsu.edu\/ccerc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}