A relationship is not just an encounter between people; we shape others and others shape us, more so in a loving relationship.

Albert Camus phrased it beautifully when he wrote that “if those whom we begin to love could know us as we were before meeting them … they could perceive what they have made of us”.

Ubuntu is a Zulu concept meaning humanity, it is often translated as I am because we are.

Although, a much broader idea than how I use it here, it made me think about what it means to be an individual in a meaningful relationship – by meaningful I mean a relationship that influences and shapes the idea of who I am as a person.

To me, this is how two (or more) separate ‘I’s make a ‘we’ and how in turn, a strong ‘we’ will nurture a person’s sense of who he or she is.