Sologamy : Everything You Need To Know About Marrying Oneself
Sologamy is the practice of marrying oneself. The growing relationship trend has seen more women in Japan, the U.K., Australia, Taiwan and the US walking down the aisle to give themselves away to themselves.
An episode of Sex in the City, 2003 was one of the earliest introductions to the idea of sologamy. The show’s main character Carrie Bradshaw mused about marrying herself after complaining that her married friends never accepted her decision to be single.
The trend has become popular enough recently that a government agency called Policy Horizons Canada took notice of the trend. Horizon suggests, “As more people choose to live single, ceremonies and rituals to reinforce the legitimacy of this choice may continue to emerge,”
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Is Sologamy Legal?
A sologamy ceremony is mostly gestural and has no legal binding. There are no tax breaks therefore you won’t have to change your marital status on any documents. Since there’s no paperwork involved, sologamy has no merit in the eyes of the law. Therefore people practising sologamy won’t be committing bigamy if they decide to marry someone else in the future.
The Purpose of Sologamy
It is said that one has to practice self-love before they love other people. The significance of loving oneself is well-stipulated as the most important thing in fulfilling lives and winning relationships. Clinical psychologist, Gill Edwards, asserts in her book, Wild Love that lack of love for oneself “is the root of settling for a life of bread and cheese rather than inviting ourselves to the banquet.”
Sologamy is a declaration of self-love and a promise to give oneself what you seek from other people. The idea of self-compassion is to make a lifetime commitment to fully loving yourself.
Some view sologamy as self-indulgent but it is not ego-centric since self-care and love are not selfish. It is about accepting both our bright and dark sides and prioritizing self-compassion in a bid to have better relationships with ourselves and other people.
READ MORE: 6 Common Relationship Problems And How To Deal With Them
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