ABSTRACT
These two epigrams are about jazz improvisation but could just as easily reference relationship commitment. Jazz improvisation and relational commitment are performances characterized by the ongoing interplay of contradictory themes. The purpose of this discussion is to elaborate on the improvisational process of relationship commitment from a relational dialectics perspective (Baxter & Montgomery, 1996). From this perspective, commitment is conceived as the ongoing interplay of opposing yet unified forces, themes, or elements.
