insulation, isolation--let's call the whole thing off!

This from the web this morning--ironic in light of our discussion yesterday about the paradox of loneliness and intentional insulation (the latter perhaps better articulated as a loss of the basic knowledge, will, or courage to form meaningful friendships).

Something I forgot to add yesterday (contain your disappointment): Connally Gilliam (whom I quoted the week previous from her book, Reflections of a Single Woman), mentioned an editorial by the late, Meg Greenfield, who noticed how marriages are now having to bear a weight they've not had to in previous eras, due to the increased social fragmentation/isolation we find in American culture. Where once people had a strong support structure in which to cultivate, celebrate, and manage marital relationships, now without said structures, the marriages themselves are having to be almost entirely responsible for staying afloat.

All to suggest, we may be as needful of cultivating strong, enduring, friendships as we are interested in finding a spouse. Ain't no third wheel about it: you don't have a larger community to confide in, celebrate with, confess to--you got no business devoting yourself to another human being. Plain and simple.