You know how being “single” has been the rave the last few years. I suppose “single” took over the mantle from “in a relationship” a few years ago, after the latter enjoyed a really long run at the top. Incidentally “in a relationship” had snatched the top spot from “married” in the 80s, a title that the latter had held since when the institution of marriage was discovered.
I apologise if I’ve been talking in riddles. I’m just referring to the aspirations of the generations that lived through these times, while noting that today, we have a generation that (arguably) aspires to remain single. Well I’m not one to follow the crowd, so I’ve already placed my bets on “divorced” being the next aspirational model.
I wonder why our generation does not believe in marriages the way our forefathers did. Is it because relationships offering the “benefits” of marriage but none of the side effects are easily available? Or perhaps it’s because we find it difficult to understand what to use as the foundation to build that relationship / marriage, seeing as how the traditional foundations of trust, honesty, love or even friendships are hard to find.
Why is that you ask? Trust requires time and effort that we don’t have; Honesty begins with us being brutally honest with ourselves instead of blurting out half truths and convenient lies; Love fades; And friendships have all but diluted to associations meant solely for the reaping of benefits.
This is the world we live in. Nevertheless you’ll occasionally find the hopeless romantic; the idealist that clings onto his / her dated notions of relationships and marriage from a forgotten century. When you find them, perhaps you should hold onto them, lest they too be turned into a hollow shell of broken dreams, tossing about in the ocean of fleeting relationships.
