I've had a few friends who got concerned after seeing the status on my social networking page. Okay, so I chose "complicated." I wasn't out to neither deceive anyone nor give the impression that my marriage was on the rocks.
"Complicated" is not a status. Single/Married/Divorced/Separated, are all definable terms yet each may imply several things. Let's take the word "single," which could read: AVAILABLE, LOOKING, READY TO MINGLE, while "married" implies NOT AVAILABLE, and NOT MINGLING.
As for "divorced" or "separated"...return to the definition of "single" but then add to it "in transition to being..." Just like the terms RECEIVED/PAID/OVERDUE, these labels are used as stamps upon human relationships.
I chose "complicated" because, to put it simply, marriage IS complicated. It entails work that could get anyone's hands and knees dirty in order to stay married. I've seen many of my friends struggle through their marriages, and some have even ended up throwing the towel. Interestingly, I have yet to meet someone who is working very hard to stay single.
The next time someone notices that eyebrow-raising word underneath my profile pic, I'd reason that it's not an inability to classify the sort of relationship I am in, but rather, it's an admission that my relationship is one that abounds with life's ups and downs. Besides, it's a useful word that encompasses the changes and troubles that people go through from single to married, then back to single.
