Staying Single
If you are single and wondering if it’s worth it to change your status to married, you are not alone. Particularly if you live in Boston. One of my Romance clients lives in Boston, and she told me recently that the culture there is very much single—her friends say “Why get married? Just live together.” And the figures support that: in a recent Boston Globe article, author Keith O’Brien quoted the US Census figures - 53.6% of men there have never married, tops in the nation. And Boston women are close behind, with 45% never married, following only Newark and Washington, DC.
O’Brien also notes results from a Pew Internet and American Life Project report in February: 55% of singles in the US have no interest in pursuing a partner. While 26% are in committed relationships, only 16% identified themselves as “actively looking.” Interestingly, the Pew study started out looking at the significance of Internet dating and stumbled on this interesting phenomenon: While we assume that singles must naturally want to be paired, this may no longer be so.
In my book “Find a Sweetheart Soon!” I tackle this issue right off in Chapter 4. Never, as I write there, has there been a better time to be single and have a good and happy life. Since for many folks, a partner search is so anxiety-provoking that it is paralyzing, why do it at all? As well, so many singles have set themselves up quite nicely with complete lives that they are unwilling to change. So why do it?
It’s nice to see that more and more, people are giving themselves permission to opt out of the romance race. And if that’s what you decide to do, go for it. Unless you are giving up out of fear or worse. Positive choice? Yes! A negative one? Why?
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
