Happy Canada Day!

Greetings and Salutations,

Today is Canada Day here in... Canada.

I'm enjoying my day off and am glad to be doing some blogging as it's been awhile.

I thought I'd start out by writing about my thoughts on the increasingly popular trend of cohabitation before marriage. I think I must be one of the few people left in this society who doesn't really agree with cohabitation prior to marriage.

The common reason I typically hear why people say they are living together is that they want to test things out. I believe people need to decide how they want to live their lives and as long as they don't hurt people, I generally accept - although I may not agree with - the life choices they make.

I see living together as some half assed commitment. I thought you test things out by using the good old fashioned method of dating, which should be a minimum of 1 year to get to know someone and their values, habits and outlook on life.

I guess in some situations, living together is sometimes the only logical step. My one friend lived in Hamilton and Yellowknife and had a boyfriend in Yellowknife. She would live in each city for a few months because she was working on her Masters and Yellowknife was where her field of study. I don't know if they were engaged but when she permenantly moved up there, they lived together and then eventually got married.

I had a coworker tell me before her man moved in with her that he lived on his own and took care of things and cleaned up after himself but when they moved in together, he became more sloppy. They are not married but it shows that people can change their behaviour whether they are married or are just living common law with you.

People also argue that if the relationship doesn't work out at least it's easier to end if you're just living together then if you are married. I think this is sort of backwards thinking because I think it indicates someone who doesn't take their relationships seriously and it reveals that they lack the ability to struggle through tough times. If 2 people are in a relationship and it's not working out, it will end anyways and whether you are just living together or are married, it will be difficult to end because we humans are emotional creatures and it will hurt no matter what your living situation is. It may be true that technically and financially it will be easier to end a relationship if you're just living together but either way, it will be hard emotionally.

For me personally I think living together is just wrong. It makes no sense to me and that is probably why I highly doubt I will be someone who lives with someone before marriage. I think if you are going to make the commitment of living with someone for an undetermined amount of time, you might as well just take the big leap of marriage. Go big or go home!