Saturday, January 8, 2011

Is one ever really enough?

Lately I've been pondering the idea if one of anything is ever enough. These days everything seems to be all about excess. I am a single mother of an 8 year old girl so you would assume that there would be certain things we only need one of. You would think we would only need one car, one television, one bathroom and so on. Yet we have two vehicles, three televisions, two bathrooms ... you get the idea. So in a world that has taught us to have more than we need, more than we can use how do we still attempt to maintain the idea that we only need one companion?

Society has for decades if not centuries ingrained in us the idea that there is someone for everyone. That we all have that soul mate person out there somewhere. That to be truly  happy one must find the love of their life and live happily ever after in monogamous bliss.

But lately we have seen in the media another perspective. With shows like HBO's Big Love and the latest docu-drama Sister Wives we have been exposed to the old idea of polygamy. Now don't get me wrong I am not saying that each man should have multiple wives who bend to his every command, but rather that I've been thinking about the idea of multiple companions.

If you take a look at the relationships you have with other people I am sure that you will notice a few things. One being that we don't only have one friend at a time. Girls often have many friends! Friends that they shop with. Friends that they play sports with. Friends that they see at book club, or yoga or work. Girls can have dozens of friends that they maintain BUT will often have that one person who is her best friend. The BFF is special. She is the one that we will call when we need anything and everything. She is the one that I will tell everything to... share everything with. And yet... If I go to dinner with another friend, my BFF does not get jealous. She does not cry if she was not invited... nor does she 'break up' with me and delete me from Facebook.

So how does society explain having ONE companion? Can we really get everything we need in a relationship from one person?

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