Friday, September 14, 2012

Divorce: The Throes of Media and the Hope of Reality

It seems like Fridays are turning into reflective, thankful days. Last Friday I wrote about gratitude and taking time to tell someone you are thankful for that you appreciate them. Today is going to be about relationships. This might scare off some of my male readers, but, hey, I'm a chick and you had to know relationships were going to come up sometime... :)

I was spurred to think about relationships because of the latest celebrity news headlines.
These, of my team's former receiver (so glad he'd already gotten cut and was with the Dolphins when this happened):
"Chad Johnson [previously "Ochocinco"] Pleads Not Guilty to Misdemeanor Battery Charge"--ABC
"Chad Johnson Gives In, Responds to Divorce Case Filed by Evelyn Lozada"--E!
"Chad Johnson Files for Divorce from Evelyn Lozada; Admits Marriage is Over"--NY Daily News
And these:
"Kelly Rutherford Breaks Down about Custody Battle on 'The View'"--Daily Mail
"Kelly Rutherford Feared Abduction During Custody Battle"--ABC
"Kelly Rutherford Loses Custody of Children in Brutal Divorce"--SheKnows.com
And finally these, about one of my favorite models and TV personalities:
"Heidi Klum, Seal's Divorce is Getting Messy"--HuffPost
"Heidi Klum Admits Something--But Not Cheating--with Bodyguard"--latimes.com
"Heidi Klum Calls Seal Divorce 'Horrible,' Says Bodyguard Is a 'Great Man'--Yahoo! News

These make me so sad. I'm not really going to touch on the fact that their personal lives are splashed across the headlines, because they're celebrities and that's what happens when anything goes on in their life, regardless of how personal it might be (Do I think it's right? No. But that's not what this post is about.). Even though these are just the headlines from this week, we hear about divorce and separation and custody battles all the time. We never have headlines like these: "Diane Sawyer Stays Married to the Same Man for 23 Years" or "Mystery Writer Michael Connelly and Wife of Almost 30 Years Go on Vacation Together." It's just sad that our society sees marriage as being something that is okay to get out of. I'm not saying that divorce shouldn't be allowed or anything like that--I, myself, am the product of a second marriage, so I wouldn't exist, had that previous relationship not ended. I just wonder how hard people work, honestly work, to work things out.

I often wonder what it would be like if divorce had not become socially acceptable. It is common in films, TV shows, and our press. What would happen if the press refused to publish anything about divorce? What would society be like if our TV shows didn't have divorce in them? I am very well aware that relationships aren't fairytales, but what if there were more movies out there like "Hope Springs"? That movie is so focused on the couple's problems and how they work through it, even though at one point, Meryl Streep's character wants a divorce. They still worked through it! It's fantastic! That movie is not a fairy tale at all; it's realistic. Realistic of what marriages that have slumped can return to and how much work it takes.

Today I'm going to tell my fiancé that I believe in us. We still have things to work through, but, you know, I'd like to keep working through them together. :)

Have a wonderful weekend.

P.S. I hit 1,000 views this morning of this blog! Thank you so much! It's more than I ever expected!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."--Gandhi

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