Plagiarizing Behavior

I'm reading David Nicholls's One Day right now and really enjoying it. I just came across a line that I thought was really interesting (probably without meaning to be):



She sometimes finds herself plagiarising 'girlfriend behaviour': holding hands, cuddling up in front of the television, that kind of thing.



I love this and I completely relate. I know what a relationship is supposed to look like thanks to my one (exactly one) relationship that I didn't have to plagiarize my behavior for. Heck, I married someone based off of plagiarized behaviors--I knew how to act like I was in a serious relationship.



I realized I needed to clarify my stance on marriage yesterday, after a day of talking to people about Lost Edens. It's not at all that I'm against the idea for myself or for others (despite my four star rating for Marriage a History: How Love Conquered Marriage, and a five star rating to Against Love: A Polemic). I'm against people getting married for the sake of being married, or partnered for the sake of being partnered, or married for any reason other than two people who share sincere and authentic respect and admiration for each other.



So instead of being against marriage I am hopelessly, absolutely for marriage in the truest sense of the term. I just think more people are married in plagiarized behavior than are married because they are committed to witnessing and sharing another life till death.



Turns out I'm not a skeptic but a true romantic, right?



I still say that anyone who has been married, will be married, is married, should read Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed.