by Feed your head with a play by Pamela Olson

Created on: March 04, 2009

Couples That Live Apart Together. 24/7 exclusivity without 24/7 togetherness.

Many claim to have seen the forest without first having examined the trees. That means that conventional wisdom has a tendency to be both very dogmatic and very wrong. Although we use statistics to see the true patterns of people's lives, when people look at the actual trees, their world view of the forest changes. What had changed was only the knowledge about the facts. A look at the numbers suggests that we should look at the numbers more often instead of relying on what the "news" tells us are the numbers.

The bottom line is that in today's world, the potential for personal satisfaction is at its highest level ever due to the plethora of individual choice and freedom. Although the future rarely is as predicted, the trend is for more choice. Reinforcing our choices is our ability to connect and communicate with communities of not only large size but also even the smallest niche.

For example, a choice rapidly growing in popularity, of living apart from one's spouse or spousal-equivalent. America's first ambassador to France was Ben Franklin. That meant Ben did not see his wife on a monthly basis, let alone weekly or daily. It's been the same hundred of years for soldiers and sailors. In America's capital, Washington D.C., many politicians share quarters on Capital Hill, then travel holidays, every other weekend and breaks back to their spouses/spousal-equivalent. Many dual-career couples now live apart. So also, do many retirees. In 1990, according to the U.S. Census, about 1.7 million people in the United States were living apart for reasons other than separation. By 2005, the number of committed couples was about 6 million with no plans to ever live together on a daily basis. AARP's statistics show that married/ spousal-equivalent people over 50 that live apart tripled in that age group in just four short years from 2001 and 2005.

Two careers, two houses, seeing each other holidays, traveling to be together every other weekend and vacations, is rapidly escalating as the way of life for the modern marriage/commitment. The most famous example might be American Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and former American President Bill Clinton.

The statistics reveal that these two household marriage/commitments are holding up better than couples that live together. When being apart is the norm, being together becomes special. The result is that love becomes constantly renewed rather than being taken

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