The Relationship Recession and finding love in all it's forms

I read yesterday that we are in a 'relationship recession'.

This Guardian article says a lot and I would recommend giving it a quick read but Beddington's concluding point 'The more expansively we define love, the more likely we are to find it' stands out.

We're expansive at October Books and we should be proud of that. 

Love romance? Hate it? Been hurt? In love? Need a friend? Socialising every weekend? Lacking community? 

Wherever you fall on this, as Beddington points out, Gen Z particularly seem to be ideologically growing apart (at least when it comes to young American men and women).

It's affecting us in the UK too.

What can we do to consciously fight this polarisation and pitting against one another?

Choosing to read more stories we find uncomfortable, unfamiliar or challenging is one way we can love ourselves and our neighbours more actively. But also just showing up for a friend when you know they will be bombarded this week with messages of just one form of love, can go a long way. 

Audre Lorde spoke into the competitiveness that happens when women of colour are pitted against one another. Real love is when we learn the small ways to break the habits of competition, striving and comparison with both those like us and those we assume to be different from us. “We have to consciously study how to be tender with each other until it becomes a habit.”
― Audre Lorde

Discover diverse perspectives and experiences of love, romance and identity on our website