According According to Merriam-Webster, marriage is:
1. The condition of being legally married to someone of the other sex in a mutually agreed-upon and contractual arrangement
Being in a relationship similar to a regular marriage with someone of the same sex is known as a “same-sex marriage.”
b: the relationship between married people: matrimony
c: the institution that binds people together in marriage
2: an act of marrying or the process by which the marital status is established; specifically : the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formality
3. A personal or intimate partnership
Read more: Are You Planning For A Marriage Or Just A Wedding?
My contribution to the “marriage” lexicon
I have a profound understanding of marriage thanks to my years of education, research, and experience—both personal and professional—working with couples at all phases of their marriage. According to what I understand, a lot of individuals consider marriage to be a kind of partnership that is primarily defined by the aforementioned terms. But according to my definition, marriage consists of four partnerships (five if the couple has kids). Additionally, a new kind of love that two people can feel for one another is the source of some of these partnerships.
The five components of a “marriage”
Friendship
Eros love in a romantic partnership
Collaboration in business
Cohabitation, sometimes referred to as roommates
Co-parents
The wonderful unusualness of marriage
Marriage is entirely unlike any other connection in human life since it combines all of these relationships into one. A marriage is genuinely unlike anything else anyone has ever encountered, regardless of how wonderful, horrible, or neutral it is. It is so unmatched that it is frequently used as a comparison for many other relationships.
Distinctive = Difficult
Marriage can be incredibly difficult because of its beautiful, wonderful, and unique qualities. I frequently assist couples in resolving these issues when one or more of the fundamental relationships mentioned above have deteriorated, ultimately restoring and strengthening their marriage as a whole. The irony is that most couples who come to my office believe they just need to work on their marriage, never taking into account the importance of any of the aforementioned sub-relationships or their current state.
Let’s examine a more prevalent “combined/dual” relationship to better illustrate the difficulties of combining several relationships into the one referred to as “marriage.” Consider the case of friends who choose to live together as roommates. There are typically some initial basic difficulties when entering this new combined/dual relationship. If not handled skillfully, this combination has the ability to destroy all relationships. And that only combines two connections into one; it’s less than half of the five partnerships that make up a married couple with kids!
Read more : Preparing for Your Big Day- Wedding and the Road Ahead
It’s time to add more intricacy!
We will need to use a little more creativity if we want to come close to describing the intricacy of marriage. Imagine, if you will, that two people choose to become friends, cohabitate (roommates), and form a business partnership. Let me give you a moment. I shall, however, remind you of the old proverb, “never mix business with pleasure,” as I do so. This statement has gained widespread recognition and acceptance as common knowledge for a reason—beyond simply being irresponsible when conducting business. The reason for this is that numerous friends and/or family members have attempted to enter into business with one another only to have their relationship completely ruined. In fact, I don’t think it’s out of the question to assume that this relationship might make a fantastic reality TV show. And you know what? Only three of the four to five partnerships mentioned above are married in the aforementioned situation. At least we’ve passed the midway point.
Would you like to step it up a notch?
In later postings, I will go into further detail on the business partnership component of marriage, but for now, let’s return to the discussion of how difficult it is to combine all of these ties into one that is “marriage.” We can only imagine how much more complicated the situation may become if we were to include yet another sub-relationship and dynamic into the equation, considering the demonstrated complexity of simply combining three relationships. This is especially true when that “other” relationship is actually a romantic partnership. When mixed with other relationships, the romantic element has the power to change their taste and either make them better or make them more difficult. However, the fifth and last piece of this mosaic—marriage—is frequently added when a love connection develops into a co-parenting arrangement.
The conclusion
We can determine which sub-relationship or relationships require improvement by comprehending the complex elements of marriage. After that, we can take the appropriate actions to meet the unique requirements of every sub-relationship. We may sit back and watch marriage unfold as it was intended to be—a lovely potpourri of the most intimate connection experiences in human history—once they are all functioning harmoniously.
I go into great detail on each of the four or five relationships and how they can affect a marriage; please read more.to Merriam-Webster, marriage is:
