It is often said that marriage means that two become one. That is true to a degree, but each partner is still an individual. However, some people do extreme individualism. I am a bit intrigued but also confused by people who marry only to live separate lives. I don’t just mean long distance relationships either. What I find the most unusual is people who live in the same house and see each other on a daily basis, but act more like roommates than a couple. How does that work?
For many, it provides the security and benefits of marriage without the emotional commitment, which may be seen as having the best of both worlds. It’s more like a marriage of convenience than a committed, sharing, relationship. Such couples often have their own groups of friends, separate bank accounts, separate property, and may even go on individual vacations.
While everyone is entitled to do what they believe is best for them, and what is right for their marriage, I personally wouldn’t be interested in engaging in such a relationship. If it makes a couple happy to live that way then I say more power to them. I just don’t quite get it.
I love being married in every sense of the word, and I don’t want a “roommate,” I want a partner. I also don’t think I knew what love was until I married. People do not really understand selfless, unconditional love until they give love in that fashion. Even those who are raised in such a loving atmosphere don’t really get it until they are on the giving end. Even if we think we are generous, giving people, the true test of the ability to love unconditionally is marriage and sharing your life with another person.
Do people experience such love while living separate lives?