Love and Music

There are several qualities and characteristics of love that people seek to experience in dating or committed relationships. Some examples are trust, loyalty, friendship, and comfort. I personally would like to be in a relationship with someone that I feel comfortable with and can totally be myself. I do not want to pretend to be someone who I am not just to impress somebody, because then I am giving the wrong impression and changing myself just for another person. I also would want the person to be confident in himself and who he is as a person- I would not want somebody pretending to act a certain way just to impress me.

Many songs display characteristics that people are looking for in relationships or in a spouse. Home by Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeroes is a song about how two people are not truly at home when the other is gone or away. They need each other and are best friends, they complete each other. "Home, let me come home, home is whenever I am with you." Here (in your arms) by Hello Goodbye talks about how two people enjoy all their time together no matter what they are doing, and always enjoy each other's company. The Reason by Hoobastank also displays qualities that are displayed in relationships: "I found out a reason for me, to change who I used to be, a reason to start over new, and the reason it you." The lead singer is basically saying that he wants to change himself, for the better, all because of one other person. Lastly, Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane (NOT Justin Beiber!) talks about when everything is going wrong how it helps to have somebody there by your side, to help make it better. Tears are running, They're all running down your dress, And your friends, baby, They treat you like a guest. Don't you want somebody to love? Don't you need somebody to love? Wouldn't you love somebody to love? You better find somebody to love. 

I am not sure whether I believe in a quest for a soulmate or not, because I think it is too early in life to tell. I usually go with the flow most of the time, and believe that what happens happens. However, I always believe that things happen for a reason so I guess in a way I sort of believe it, but I am not exactly looking. If it is meant to happen, then it will happen. 

Marriage

I have had a fantastic experience with my family, or domestic church, throughout the years. I love my mom, dad, and (sometimes) brother. They are all so funny and supportive of my hopes and dreams and as am I of theirs. Whenever I am upset of angry about something, they make me feel better and cheer me up. 

There are several pros and cons to the changing structure of marriage in the 21st Century. It is now much easier for parents to get divorced, even if they shouldn't be. They made a promise for life, so unless it is a really serious issue, I believe they should stick to their promise. Also, people are now getting married much later in life than they once did. In a way, I think this is a good thing because men and women could have a better chance at starting their career and getting financially stable before marrying another or having children.

I am happy to hear that people with a college degree are less likely to get divorced or have multiple marriages. It makes me feel more confident in my education and shows the education has many uses other than academics. I'm not sure if I will get married in the future. It really depends on what direction my life is going. Although I believe marriage is a great thing, I believe that a common law marriage is also fine. As long as you have a financially and emotional stable relationship with a significant other, that is also great. 

Dating

I do not believe that dating prepares people for divorce. I think it actually would make a marriage stronger if people had more experience with dating. I say this because when two people are together, there are bound to be disagreements and arguments along with good times and memories. However, if a couple can work through their disagreements in a calm and mature manner, I think it will be beneficial to either of them in the future. Marriage is all about compromise, so the more experience you have with it, the better you will be at it; on the other hand, if you are going out with someone and you have heated arguments about insignificant issues and decide to break up time and time again, I could see how that might lead to divorce in the future. But, for the most part, I think dating would be beneficial towards marriage. Some other reasons for dating is you can have a companion and somebody who will hopefully be there for support in tough times. It is a way to practice caring for someone other than yourself and giving to another person or just being there for another person in general. Unfortunately, I really do not know that many people who actually "date" anymore in my life. They may hang out at a persons house or something, but none of my friends are really going out to dinner or a movie or anything like that. Dating and "hooking up" are two completely different things. Hooking up, for the most part, is a one night or one time kind of thing and it usually does not mean anything. Because of this, a lot of people end up getting hurt if they actually did like the person. Dating is when two people like each other and they want to see what will happen. I think dating definitely requires more confidence than hooking up.