Significant Relationship=Companionship

At this point in my life, my most significant relationship is the one that I have with my children. However, I realize that there will come a time when I will aspire to have a relationship involving a significant other. It's hard to say what I would look for in this relationship, since for now it is merely a figment of my imagination, an idea swirling around in the depths of my subconscious. I suppose the only word that comes to mind right now is 'companionship', as it is truly the basis for any long-lasting relationship whether it be with a friend or lover.

Companionship sounds so easy, yet it requires so many cogs to be turning in the same motion at the same time; it is deceiving in its simplicity. Companionship does not mean doing everything together all the time, but instead it means carving out pockets of time for togetherness, slices of space in which two people can reside at the same time, while still ensuring individuality and freedom of thought. It involves a feeling of connectedness combined with comfort, friendship involved with peace and, most importantly, laughter looped with love. Companionship does not have to be "serious", it just has to be equal. Both people must want it in the same way at the same time, and therein lies its elusiveness.

Time changes people in ways that even they cannot predict or prevent; it's just how life goes. All beings must change, or they will perish, which only goes to follow that all relationships must also change or fade away. Companionship is not a safeguard against a relationship's demise, but it is an essential ingredient for success. Success does not mean marriage or even a long-term relationship. It simply means that two people are present in the same space at the same time and enjoying the moment, living for the happiness that is right in front of them and allowing for the possibility of further happiness ahead, whatever that may mean.

I'm sure I've oversimplified a very complex subject, but I think it's only complex because people make it that way. Relationships of all kinds just need to feel right and feel good without all the restraints and ideologies of others restricting which direction they turn. Companionship is blind to the opinions of others because at the root of all relationships is concern for who you love. Companionship lets you laugh out loud, act silly, be crazy, try new things, go new places, wish upon stars and live with reckless abandon. In short, companionship makes an already wonderful life all the sweeter.