A while ago, I was talking to somebody about love, and he (being married) told me that there is no such thing as love at first sight, no such thing as “the one.” Those concepts were brought about largely through romantic novels and movies and dramas. You just gotta find somebody that’s decently compatible, and stick with her. And you grow.

Today, I was reading Passion and Purity (which is good), and I learned that marital problems weren’t that big of an issue until people gave up arranged marriages in exchange for the do-it-yourself kind.

Part of me wishes arranged marriages were still around. They would just make everything so much simpler. We would take our spouses as gifts, and we wouldn’t give it too much thought because there would be no concept of choosing spouses. And things like jealousy and divorce would just seem less realistic. Of course, I don’t know too much about what it’s like, too much about its pros and cons, so I can’t really have an educated opinion. I can only have an opinion.

I realize that it’s too late to turn back now. Now that people have tasted this freedom, it’s unreasonable to think that society would return to its original state. It just seems that do-it-yourself marriage is reponsible for so many modern issues, and we could all save a lot of time without it. That’s all I have to say, I think.

– Larry