Hey, married person: When a friend tells you she loves being single, ‘fess up: You think she’s faking it. Being single is life’s great consolation prize, right?
Wrong, smuggo. And don’t you have some spouse you could go bug? We singles need to talk.
Take heart, fellow travelers: There’s a book that’s singing our tune, and it’s a happy one. In “Single: The Art of Being Satisfied, Fulfilled and Independent” (Adams Media, $12.95), author Judy Ford writes: “Singleness is not a catastrophe. It’s not a tragedy, a calamity or an affliction. It’s an honorable platform. . . . Singleness shakes and shoves us into taking the leap from wanting someone to being someone.”
Ford, a psychotherapist who has been divorced and widowed, is full of suggestions for how to be more than someone on the prowl for someone else. She urges singles to savor their singledom, to live as they please, without apology. Go for moonlit midnight strolls; mail Valentine cards to everyone you know; cross out the marital-status box on forms and sub “stylishly single”; indulge in fine chocolate and flirtations. Under Ford’s tutelage, being single isn’t a sorry state, it’s an art.
Truth and consequences: “Contrary to popular opinion, not everyone wants to get married.”