Till death do us part

To be mated for life. To be together day after day after day. For some, a blissful union, the absence of one partner more painful than anything that can be endured. For others a life sentence to be endured, a prison with no walls and death the unwanted liberator. To what end does being mated for life serve? Is it a divine edict which cannot be violated or a cultural artifact? Is it an instinct distilled from thousands of years of evolution? Plants have no lifelong mates; they spread their seed wantonly employing devious tricks to get the deed done, like saddling bees with their pollen after enticing them with brilliant, attractive colors and sweet nectar, seducing birds to become carriers of their seed, and even wooing the wind to waft away the next generation to populate some distant parts.

If we believe in Karma and reincarnation might not the idea extend beyond a lifetime and validate the notion of two people being soulmates forever, finding each other time and again and rekindling old familiar passions until who knows when? Is there such a thing as soulmates or, is it just a crafty, fictional invention by a randy casanova designed to get a girl to open her legs more easily and willingly? Is she a victim of the male proclivity for sowing the wild oats or has she invented the notion to ensnare a wandering casanova to be her slave for life?