Squandrous

Two of the loveliest people I know got married today, and something inside me has been beaming since I heard the news.

It’s no surprise that I love weddings: I subscribe to a multitude of wedding blogs and have been known to read the occasional bridal magazine from time to time. But what has me so full of joyful spirit tonight isn’t the fact that a wedding took place, but instead, that two people I know and care for are now married.

Marriage is something that I’ve grown to love. As a student of anthropology, I long believed that marriage was nothing but an economic transaction, that if two people loved each other, they didn’t need to be married to express that.

I’ve changed a lot in the past few years, and my thinking on marriage has changed a lot. Sure, at its most basic level, it still remains a transactional tradition, but what I’ve learned about marriage is that there’s a difference between loving someone, and making a public display, an outward manifestation of your devotion — a vow of love that holds you accountable but also continually reminds you of that feeling, that yearning, that intense affection and fondness you have for that special person in your life.

Plus, I’ve said it before, and I stand by it:

In all honesty, it’s impossible not to be completely enamored with the whole concept of marriage: that two people can feel so strongly drawn to each other that they are willing to devote themselves to each other for life — or at least try to do just that. There’s so much beauty in the whole idea.

All that to say, Meredith and Julian: congratulations on getting married. I may not know you both all too well, but I do know that your lives together have been, and will continue to be filled with immense love.

And maybe, hopefully, one day, I’ll find that too.

(photo via)