I was invited to one of my cousins' wedding the other week. Wonderful event with a beautiful ceremony in an old church, and short travel by boat to the small castle where a great dinner was held.
Just a few days before the wedding, I happened to zap right into the movie "Shall we Dance" with Susan Sarandon in one of the leading roles. She, or rather her character, was doing a very nice monologue about marriage:
"We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."
My mother, being the Godmother of the groom, made a speech to the newlyweds at the dinner. She talked about how much chance there was behind them even to exist. If one Scotsman hadn't decided to go to Sweden in the 17th century and so on. But she also talked about the importance of doing things together such as laugh together but also to cry together, not separately, for the sorrows that are common to both. Such as loosing an unborn baby or a child. Although she didn't provide examples.
With all the attention and immediate support we get through social media today, what role has marriage? Now that we can do more than like comments on Facebook, we can even cry together. Although I very much like my interactions with friends and family through social media, there are still many things I prefer to do IRL. Including sharing difficult times. Nothing can beat a warm, long hug!
Marriage is a common theme in the world of metaphors. There are plenty of metaphors trying to describe what marriage is like, such as describing your spouse as "my other half" or "ball and chain". Marriage is also used to describe other phenomena in the world, often to indicate a strong bond. For example, it can be used to describe a business relationship.
My favourite marriage metaphor can be found in these lyrics by Sting from his song "I Was Brought To My Senses" I've written about before:
"I walked out this morning
It was like a veil had been removed from before my eyes
For the first time I saw the work of heaven
In the line where the hills had been married to the sky
And all around me every blade of singing grass
Was calling out your name and that our love would always last"
"We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."
My mother, being the Godmother of the groom, made a speech to the newlyweds at the dinner. She talked about how much chance there was behind them even to exist. If one Scotsman hadn't decided to go to Sweden in the 17th century and so on. But she also talked about the importance of doing things together such as laugh together but also to cry together, not separately, for the sorrows that are common to both. Such as loosing an unborn baby or a child. Although she didn't provide examples.
Marriage is a common theme in the world of metaphors. There are plenty of metaphors trying to describe what marriage is like, such as describing your spouse as "my other half" or "ball and chain". Marriage is also used to describe other phenomena in the world, often to indicate a strong bond. For example, it can be used to describe a business relationship.
My favourite marriage metaphor can be found in these lyrics by Sting from his song "I Was Brought To My Senses" I've written about before:
"I walked out this morning
It was like a veil had been removed from before my eyes
For the first time I saw the work of heaven
In the line where the hills had been married to the sky
And all around me every blade of singing grass
Was calling out your name and that our love would always last"
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