Circles

A circle. A shape with sides totaling zero or infinitely many. A shape that holds hair out of a girls face, lights the world, fashions out bodies, gives focus to a target, alone stands for nothing, yet behind any numbers means everything. Circles, however, have a much more important function than these. Binding two individuals as one.

Marriage may be heavy on the mind right now do to the extremely large number of friends and peers that have been married this year. When I could no longer count the wedding invitations with my fingers confusion gave way to panic. Panic then opened the door to good-natured cynicism. Good-natured cynicism? I guess being the product of a divorced family tends to slant my view of marriage, especially at such a young age.

About three and a half years ago, giggling and naive, during mutual (a church activity held for girls and boy from the age of 12 to 18) I sat at a table with my closest friends picking colors, locations, music, themes, maids of honor for our future wedding. All the while gushing about the perfect man we planned to marry, which was then written done as a “Must have list”. These objects, the fabric, wedding dress pictures, lists, ect., were then place in a large can and sealed. Only after an exchange of vows and circles were these cans to be opened. I had just turned 16. Years before the legal age of marriage, girls dream and plan about the perfect wedding that is destined in their future. By their 18th birthday hear the strong siren call of wedding bells, drowning any other sounds of caution or reason. Ring, that circle is all she needs now to start her fantasy. One of my good friends, after less than a year of knowing the boy, said yes to his proposal of marriage. Yes to committing her life to someone who she has yet to travel around the whole sun with.

In the United States the marriage rate: 7.1 per 1000 total population; Divorce rate: 3.5 per 1000 population.

Regardless of my personal feelings of young marriage I have know couples to rush into a young marriage and become the most incredible team. I have no doubt that they will turn into one of those elderly couples that you see in super markets holding hands, still madly in love. What makes the difference? I believe it is a complicated algorithm that involves starting with background history, adding personal habit and pet peeves, multiplying happy times, dividing stress and worry evenly, subtracting nonessential life clutter, and absolutely eliminating thoughts of jealously and deceit. I do believe that with enough work and love any couple can make it till the end, but that those that allow time to increase maturity stand a better chance.

Two individuals become one with just a circle. Behind a number a circle means everything, but alone stands for zero. Found in almost every faucet of life. An infinitely many or no sided shape. A circle.