This month Obaasema gets insight from relationship expert Christiana Ibilola Awosan, MA, MFT (Marriage and Family Therapy) on some topic areas relevant to relationship building. Before you read further, consider participating in this brief exercise by asking yourself the following questions: Why am I in my relationship? What do I hope to gain [...]

My hair is big, and that’s the way I like it. A curly bushel of afro fuzz that extends both horizontally and vertically, casting a shadow over my face. It’s Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, and Pam Grier big, coming in the door before I do.   So when my boyfriend at the time remarked that [...]

  Every year around this time there’s a familiar sentiment. With the new year fast approaching people are often drawn to the idea of doing things a little differently. All the things that were planned and hoped for during the current year get lumped into the new one. Work less. Lose weight. Achieve goals. With [...]

    I’ve had conversations with self-proclaimed good single men that make me realize that some men’s definition of a good man is far to the left of what most women would consider an apt candidate. From listening to these guys the synopsis I leave with is, women are too picky; they need to lower [...]

  I have had several different conversations with members of the opposite sex about relationships and these conversations had one thing in common: personal expectations.   A few years ago before I started dating seriously, someone told me that I needed to have a list of things that I wanted in a guy so that [...]

  I never, or I should say, almost never, write about my conversations; reason being that I try to respect the privacy of my dialogues or dealings with people. However, I decided to break the rule just this once because it led to a personal epiphany and unveiled another side to an interesting subject: Why [...]

  What I’m about to say is probably a bit controversial. It can certainly be contested, and I can most likely be proven wrong, but I feel inclined to say it anyway: we should date people our own age. Now before you get all up in arms, dear reader, let me provide some context for [...]

  We are constantly bombarded with love songs on the radio and love stories on the silver screen. Yet it is easy to forget how special it can be unless we see real love shared between real people. Erika and Jamal Kelley, a young couple living in South Jersey, are a living testament to love [...]

On a whim, I booked a two-day getaway for myself: one night at a small Bed and Breakfast and two days of museum seeing and sightseeing. When I arrived at the Bed and Breakfast I entered the quaint house and greeted the host. He smiled and welcomed me, then looked around and asked “Are you [...]

Quite often we come across credos such as “Don’t dream your life, live your dream”? One classical dream people used to have was to get married and live happily ever after, but that dream seldom becomes reality these days; instead it ends before its original intention. Today we feel encouraged to pursue our very personal [...]