Being single and loving it

Recently I have been planning my annual overseas adventure. Earlier this year it was Ghana and in January 2013 it will be six weeks interning and travelling in Shanghai and India.

During the planning process I have had been so glad that I was single and could peruse my passion for travel as well as study and music without having factor in some else’s interests and work requirements.

While this blog post is not about these adventures in particular but more a lifestyle that is undervalued.

I always found relationships slightly fascinating and especially when romance seems to be touted as the be all and end all of the human existence. 

Especially myths such as that being in a relationship with someone that “completes you” or that it increases the “fun factor” in your life.

 

This is not to say that being married is bad in any way as the joys of being in a relationship are many and varied, but why do single people focus on what they don’t have when being that way can also be so rewarding?

You don’t need to be romantically involved with someone to have rich and rewarding life or to be complete.

There are many advantages to being single, such as:

• You can live in your own place and enjoy having your own space.

• You can travel to the far flung places of the globe  or even interstate and take up opportunities that might be little difficult to take up if you had a partner and kids.

• Travelling solo gave me the opportunity to hang out with people that I met at youth hostels which has been really cool. 

• Leaving the airport alone in some crazy new city and finding your way to your accommodation provides the most amazing adrenaline rush. 

Another part aspect of relationships that I always found interesting is the tradition of rushing down the aisle by parts of West Australian community.

Spending my late teenage years in a particular social-religious community (of which I am no longer part of) when I first arrived in Australia where marriage is of paramount importance and children are the only indicator of maturity and that you’ve reached  adulthood.

I grew up wondering why this had to be so and why everyone was in such a rush to get married and as soon as it was legal to do so.

I also wondered why single gals in this community who, through no fault of their own, have such a complex about not being joined at the hip with their childhood sweetheart.

It seemed baffling that they put so much pressure on themselves to be married by 19. As if something was seriously wrong with them if they weren't, which was far from the case.

Those who weren’t were just normal people who hadn’t found Mr Right. But the focus on marriage is intense.   

For examples, click here and here.  

Instead of focusing on how good life can be so many seem to focus on what their lives could be like if they were married.

These are just my experiences and I look forward to many years of adventure and excitement, with or without a man!