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Breaking Sad
Open relationships can be hugely beneficial, but sometimes they’re not
“Mmm…. Maybe we could do it for real?” She turned toward me, propped up on one elbow, looking intently at my face to judge my reaction.
“We could,” I said, non-noncommittally. “If it’s something you think you’d really enjoy.”
“It really turns me on,” she breathed softly into my ear. “And you could have fun too…”
After another bout of hour-long passion we resumed the conversation. She’d been thinking a lot about having a mutually consensual open relationship, something that would add spice and variety to our already intense relationship in which great sex played a major role.
I’d had plenty of threesomes and moresomes in my past, as well as periods of ethical individual non-monogamy with other partners. In principle I continued to feel the idea was essentially good. After all, our species is inherently semi-monogamous and it’s the lies people tell to hide infidelity that do the most harm, not the act itself.
That said, I also knew that non-monogamy isn’t for everyone. A certain level of emotional maturity and self-awareness is required, as well as deep respect for one’s partner. Jealousy, conflicting emotions, unresolved tensions between what you feel and what you subconsciously believe you ought to feel, and so much more…
