Dissolution/Disillusion

These words sound similar to me, so I looked each of them up:

dis·so·lu·tion

Noun

The closing down or dismissal of an assembly, partnership, or official body. 2.  The action or process of dissolving or being dissolved.

dis·il·lu·sion

Noun Disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be.

Verb Cause (someone) to realize that a belief or an ideal is false. Did you know that in some states, you can walk into a court house and pick up a "Dissolution" packet? It's for couples who have "mutually" decided to end their marriage. They can fill out the paperwork, file it with the court for a small fee, wait for a period of time, and voila! Marriage over. No lawyers, no real costs and hardly any hassle.  I was thinking, though, wouldn't it be more appropriate if it were called a "Disillusioned" packet? Because isn't that what's really going on?  It could start out with only one person, perhaps waking up one day and thinking that their monogamous, monotonous, responsibility laden life is not as good as they believed it to be. Or maybe it doesn't happen that suddenly: maybe it happens slowly, over the course of the relationship. I've heard it said that sometimes people enter a relationship really expecting that a person will change, and that's a mistake. Well, it goes both ways. I would say, perhaps you shouldn't enter a relationship and expect things not to change either. Ideally, a couple should change together. Realistically, that is not always the case. Sometimes the directions they take are vastly different, and I can see how easy it would be to one day wake up, turn over to look at your spouse, and give in to the feelings of utter disappointment.

I pity the other half, the one who thought, "It's just a phase, they're just under stress, it's their job, it's this house, it's the weather," it's anything other than the truth: You are just not as good as they once believed you to be. That must hurt, can you imagine? The person you share your bed with, your home with, your body, your soul, trust, faith has decided you just aren't as good to them as you once were. Would you blame yourself? "It's because I gained so much weight after the kids were born, it's because he/she never wanted children, it's because I didn't change jobs, it's because I look older, it's because I don't keep the house as clean, I shop too much, I expect too much..." That must damage a person, to their very core. I imagine the pain from that sort of rejection probably reaches a physical level, especially if the disillusionment is put into actual words: "I do not want you anymore. I do not love you anymore." Of course, I cannot speak for all couples, and I certainly don't know all the reasons marriages and relationships end. But when the time for dissolution comes, surely disillusion presides over all.