Bucking Monogamy

So were Paul and Linda McCartney repressed?

Loving a lot of people in one's life is undeniably a beautiful thing. I have been blessed to have some wonderful relatives and friends and lovers in my lifetime.

I find, however, that having a sexual relationship with one person at a time is more than sufficient, and sometimes a whole lot of work.

Far be it from me to tell anyone else how to live or who to love, but I wonder why there is almost never this kind of celebration of longtime monogamous love and sex?

My parents were married for 57 years until my mother died after a long illness, with Dad as her devoted primary and loving caregiver.

They had the usual good times and bad, including one temporary separation. They were however, best friends who loved each other in a way that was special and apart from the love they had for their platonic friends outside their marriage.

I happen to think that is magically and luminously beautiful, and should be mentioned and celebrated, as should others such as Paul and Linda whom billclausen mentions.

Loving monogamy and marriage might be "tedious" to some, particularly those who want that instant gratification and that continual fix of "new stuff" as much as possible. To most of us "tedious" people, monogamy is a beloved way of life, to show affection and "specialness" with/to one person whom we are blessed enough to reach through life's obstacles and somehow find.

So Starshine, stop, be still, look at your mate and realize how blessed you are to have found one another and to have made a home and family together. You can't possibly realize how fortunate you are until you lose that, and I pray that never happens.

As great as polyamory might sound in theory, I have to think the jealous and insecure facets of our human nature (reinforced by religion and/or decades of traditional social mores) would throw our emotional equilibrium into a tailspin and spoil all the fun.

Still, I can't say I'd completely rule out the idea, if approached by the right pair of bright, compelling, attractive, and unselfish young women. :-)

Anybody ask Tiger Woods his opinion on all this?

Isn't it bad enough that so many of us can't find even ONE person, and these folks are hogging two or more? Hmph!

PS: bill, I think Paul and Linda smoked a lot of weed together, which enhances the nesting instinct (IMHO).

No need to go trolling for others, as long as you've got each other and some vegan pizza to share.

What snacks does one serve to her husband and girlfriend post-coitally? Sweet or savory?

so now I wonder, are outback aussie cheese fries on par with shooting smack or watching porn on your bosses computer? I don't think I would enjoy #2 or #3 at all. I must be an alien to this term, 'American'.

"They practice what they call "polyamory," or being openly—and therefore ethically—involved in multiple intimate relationships."

So being open is all it takes to be ethical? What happened to 'consenting adults'?

"And he's not crazy about her two long-term lovers."

I'm not sure that fits my definition of ethical. It's one thing to not be crazy about your partner's golf or scrap booking habit. It's quite another to 'not be crazy about' your partner having sex with other people. Hey, if everyone is really ok with it, all the power to them. But on the face of it, your example doesn't sound like the poster child for polyamory to me.

BIOMIMICRY! Pigeons apparently mate for life but chimpanzees do not. Some people behave lovey dovey and others run around like a bunch of monkeys. We are a confused species.

I can attest to what Starshine is saying because, while I'm in LOVE with her writing, I confess that from time to time, I have taken up reading some other authors.

Of course, I don't fool around with just any writing and I try to practice safe reading habits, except maybe for the comics...

And while I dally around with other writers from the Indy, I consider Starshine my number one read. Her humor tickles my jiblets and her insight into the human condition warms the cockles of my heart. (when I think of some of her past columns, sometimes I feel an adjective coming on.)

Keep up the good work, Starshine, and I'll keep my "straying" to a minimum.

Are the children of these swinging couples ok with what their parents are doing?

A man asked,
What of Ignorance, Master?

He then said:
If every man was a genius, there would be no idiots, and no gauge for the intelligence of man.
For every ignorant ill-bred man, there exists an opposite intelligent, well-bred man.
Each needing each other. Each dependent upon each other.

Remember, unless you're buying a car there is no shame in being
ignorant.
And if you are married, there exists no comfort in being intelligent.

"insecure facets of our human nature" _niceFLguy

"so many of us can't find even ONE person, and these folks are hogging two or more?" _Walter

Perhaps, if most of us weren't so dysfunctional, then we might be able to find that ONE, who has "everything", rather than trying to get a little bit of what we need, from many.

If one can be married, and polyamourous, then why isn't polygamy still legal? What happens when pregnancies cross the wrong gene-lines? Why can't we *love* many, but only have *sex* with one other person?

I'm sorry, but "commitment" to many, is not commitment at all, since by the basis of the idea, "poly-", there is no upper limit to the amount of lovers one may have--and by that I specifically mean sexual partners.

On the other hand, I still recall the 70's battlecry, "If it Feels Good, Do it!"

Kehlog: You have a tendency to be silly.

>>"And if you are married, there exists no comfort in being intelligent."<<

I don't get it. Is this a wife beating joke?

"I don't get it. Is this a wife beating joke? "No.

While I will joke about many things, wife beating is off limits. People being abused is nothing to laugh about.