It seems marriage is still alive and well in this world! …in our hearts for now at least.
I’m a 34 year-old-never-been-married-happily-single-woman who’s recently been researching updo’s to wear in a wedding that I will be standing in.
And I have to tell you … I am completely amazed at the outpour of enthusiasm and support that I’ve recently received from simply purchasing a bridal magazine!
It’s the type of reaction one gets when faced with dire circumstances…you know the kind you hear about on the news when people band together to save or support another. Marriage actually provokes this same kind of reaction in humanity today and is probably one of the few happy things in life to do so…this and the birth of a child.
Two times now I’ve publicly scanned wedding magazines for the perfect hairstyle and both brought about the same exact experiences: genuine hope and happiness followed by pity and hopelessness. I’ll give you an example. Over the weekend a cashier ceased all activity on my order after ringing up the summer issue of InStyle Weddings only to enthusiastically congratulate me on my perceived pending nuptials and following it up with an apologetic “oh” when hearing the real reason for the purchase.
For some, this type of experience might provoke a “bad reaction” but in a time when marriage is at an all time low –failing nearly 50% of the time and more people choosing to go it alone to fight the fear of a bad marriage, I find these experiences very encouraging.
You could say that people want to believe in marriage because of how we’ve been conditioned (“Cinderella” anyone?), but I’d have to argue that over the past decade or so we’ve actually been taught more so to come to the harsh realization that “happily ever after” can never exist and ultimately… to fear marriage.
It is comforting to know that deep down in all of our hearts…we are collectively rooting for marriage to prevail and love to reign.
