Is An Arranged Platonic Life Partner Reasonable?

The word "platonic" by definition means non physical, non sexual, companionable. Today, there are few relationships that are platonic. Those that begin platonic usually don't turn out that way after long. So, how is a platonic life partner a reasonable expectation? And who would make a good life partner in a situation where there was no physical affection?
There are stages in life where one is able to arrange a platonic life partner scenario. Roommates in an assisted living arrangement often are categorized in this manner. The arrangements usually include both parties paying half of rent, utilities, buying their own groceries and funding their own trips outside of their apartment. Cooking and cleaning duties, if done internally, are equally divided or may be done together. The benefits to both parties are obvious; companionship instead of loneliness, auditory and visual stimulation instead of sitting around listening to Bob Barker reruns all day and someone to share conversation and activities with. Doctors testify that the platonic life partner may make a difference in the length of one partner’s life. As loneliness contributes to earlier deaths, the platonic life partner offers the very essence of a longer existence.

The platonic life partner arrangement doesn’t necessarily mean that one’s whole life is spend with that person, it simply means that the remainder of that person’s life will likely be spent with that person. The same sex life partners that live together may do so for other reasons that their sexual preferences. Two platonic lie partners may have similar disabilities and be able to assist each other in ways that no one else would be able to or understand. These are relationships of necessity and convenience. The platonic life partner in this situation offers both partners the opportunity to share concerns and questions without fear of rejection or indifference. Tacitly understanding what the other is going through and facing helps to let the other partner have a friend, or be a friend to someone they otherwise would not.

A platonic life partner may also exist between two partners who share the same spiritual connection to their religious practices. Nuns, for example, live in platonic life partnerships in a monastery. These women, completely devoted to celibacy, spend their time studying and encouraging one another while performing community service, fundraising and other ethically beneficial activities to promote their way of life. There are many benefits to having a platonic life partner. Without any stressors added to the interaction, the relationship can be open and honest without pretense or strain. The closeness is unsurpassed in an emotional and intellectual way such this is sustainable for some. For others, the need for a sexual relationship supercedes these types of relationships.

While many do not normally give a lot of thought to the platonic life partner scenarios, they may find the possibility of one actually existing as such until the end as ridiculous. Wired to be reproductive beings, the senses, attractions and human need for physical contact must be satisfied in some way. For many, the concept of a platonic life partner doesn’t even make sense. Going against all that we were put here on earth to do, reproduce, some feel that maintaining a platonic life partner is sinful.
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