Hello my fellow learners, and Happy Halloween! Now that October has officially come to an end, it is time to announce November’s topic. Rather than voting again this month, I have decided to choose the second most requested topic that I saw when you all voted in October—relationships!
A large number of you wrote in requesting in-depth conversations about the dating world post-pandemic, the LGBTQ+ community, navigating interracial relationships and successfully leaving abusive relationships.
While these are just a few possible routes The Learning Curve will take in the month of November, I am already so excited to get the ball rolling on finding interviews. Romantic relationships are something that will never go away, and are always unique dependent on the people involved. I cannot wait to hear individual stories and share them with you!
Please, if you are curious about a specific angle within this topic, feel free to email me at zoeyfields.tlc@yahoo.comto ask questions or suggest a unique perspective.
Before diving head first into November, I wanted to reflect on the month of October and covering mental health and mental illnesses:
I learned so much from my brave and trusting interview subjects! I am never not amazed at the strength and vulnerability people speak to me with and I cannot begin to put into words how thankful I am to be trusted with such, often sensitive, material.
Talking about mental health is not always the easiest thing to do, especially when someone has faced significant battles. As a reporter, it was tricky to navigate interviews because of the potential risk of asking too invasive of a question. I like to make my interviews feel as natural and normal as possible—like we are just having a basic conversation. This was especially beneficial when covering mental health as a topic. It goes to show that you never truly know what someone is going through or has been through, and, that most people are willing to talk about it so long as you treat them as a human.
With that being said, I want to give a huge shoutout to Seye Kuyinu, Christy Wyant, Hao Tran, Kara Murphy, Lucy Ayala, Katherine Wellsand Laura Buerckner. You are all incredible people who I was blessed to have significant conversations with; October would not have been possible without each of you.
As we transition into November, I want to leave you all with some fun things to check out in preparation for learning more about modern-day relationships.
1. Love languages are gaining more attention on social media and people are implementing them into their relationships, both romantic and platonic. The five love languages are words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time and physical touch. Take this quiz to find out yours!
2. I just finished watching MAID on Netflix (suggested to me by my mother) and oh my goodness it is amazing! The mini-series is based on a memoir by Stephanie Land and tells the story of a young mother and her daughter fighting to make a life for themselves after leaving an abusive relationship. Each scene provoked true emotions and made me think about things in a new way. Statistics have shown for years now that it is often easier for a woman to stay in an abusive relationship than it is to leave. This show did a fantastic job of portraying a side we often do not see.
3. Last but not least, one more quiz for you! Similar to love languages, people are taking this personality test to determine their enneagram—an emotionally focused system of understanding people and their internal dynamics such as fears, motivations and emotions. While this is not directly related to relationships, they say you cannot love another until you truly love yourself. To love yourself, you must know yourself. Take this quiz and let me know what your enneagram type is! (I am a type 8)
