Areas of Life: Family
Family is more than just one’s parents or siblings.
Family is more than just one’s parents or siblings.
About: Family
Our Areas of Life categories help define how we interact with the world. Rather than define our relationships either romantically or through friendships, we have created an expansive system focused on all areas of a person’s life, from their interactions at work to how they create their chosen families and participate in their broader communities.
Family is more than just one’s parents or siblings. For many people, family is defined as those closest to us, connected either through blood or through choice. A chosen family is born out of the needs of the individual and other important people in their life. And a chosen family can be just as vital, if not more so, than many of the families we are given by birth.
In this Areas of Life guide, we will break down the family habits of each Connection Style.
Connection Styles and Family
Those closest to us, connected either through blood or through choice
Cultivators
Cultivators may have a family or a chosen family. What is most important to them is the trust they hold with those family members. A family with no trust is no family at all. In more difficult family dynamics, Cultivators may have one-on-one experiences with individual family members which differ from the larger, overall family dynamic. This helps them see and experience the world through the other person’s life, ultimately helping to improve the overall familial dynamic.
Seekers
Seekers may have and value a family by birth or a chosen family. They are less likely to lean one way more than the other. What they value are authentic relationships, and they will gravitate toward (or cultivate) relationships that are rooted in that authenticity. And Seekers will work to make their families “feel” more authentic. They are likely the ones to maintain traditions or recall past memories of impactful events to emphasize their importance.
Enthusiasts
Enthusiasts may have and value a family by birth or a chosen family. Their familial relationships are marked by a certain playfulness, which speaks to the intimacy of those connections. Enthusiasts feel a need to be in contact with their family and work to maintain those relationships, even if they sometimes feel pulled in multiple directions by their family ties.
Organizers
While an Organizer may take on a more managerial role for their family, having a close and deep connection is just as important as other Connection Styles. “Chosen” family members are just as—if not more—valuable to Organizers than their family by birth. Those chosen family members may “get” an Organizer in ways other people don’t, and those connections may be as close as with a romantic partner. An Organizer can be their full-self with their chosen family.
For Organizers, chosen family tends to have the same outlook on life and can offer much-needed support in a way other Connection Styles don’t see or understand. Organizers know their chosen family will show up when they need them, making for a cohesive support system. Likewise, Organizers tend to inhibit that same role for their chosen family, too.
Truth Tellers
Truth Tellers may have both a chosen and blood family. Like with all of their relationships, Truth Tellers bring their full selves to their familial bonds. If Truth Tellers are in a healthy family dynamic, their relationships with family will be marked by honesty and openness. Families, knowing Truth Tellers best, are unphased by the communication style of Truth Tellers and can see the message behind their honest way of speaking.