Navigating Polyamorous Relationships: Making Love Work

What is polyamorous?

Polyamory is the act of having several relationships at the same time. These relationships run concurrently with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved. Most of the time it is confused with open-relationships. In open relationships, however, the parties are free to take new partners.

If your relationship is polyamorous and open, then you may take new relationships, and you may fall in love with your partners. If your relationship is polyamorous and closed, you have the agreement not to take on new relationships. For example, you could have a closed party; for instance, a group of three people who are only involved with each other and don't get involved with anyone else.

Does They Work?

Polyamory in most cases is inconsiderate of religion and rarely respects natural institutions like marriage. A small percentage of people in polyamorous relationships, however, get committed and participate in marriage ceremonies. Polyamory means having multiple loving relationships, usually, but not always sexual. Unlike polygamy, polyamorous people stress the importance of open communication and equal relationships between partners. In most instances, the parties involved know about the other partners but choose to be remain in those relationships.

Polyfidelity is a type of polyamory where a party; for instance, a group of three people gets into an intimate relationship structure where all members are considered equal partners and agree to restrict sexual activity to only other members of the group only. In other words, Polyamory is neither monogamy nor is it swinging, it’s basically being open to having loving relationships with different people of different and can be of sexes at the same time, and in the same way learning to love yourself in the process.

The question to ask is how can polyamorous relationships work? Let us get into the details of how these relationships can operate.

KNOW YOURSELF

The first point is that it is important to be open with yourself and severely have a moment of self-introspection to determine why you want this sort of relationship. Honesty is also very important to polyamorous relationships, and it's difficult to be honest about who you are, and what you want if you do not know those things about yourself. If you're not sure who you are, take some time to explore and consider your values, boundaries, needs, and priorities. Because monogamy is the current social norm, getting to negotiate novel agreements with loved ones. Knowing yourself goes a great deal in asking for what you want especially when you don’t know who you are.

CONSIDER CONSENT

After being sure with yourself that you want to engage in this sort of relationship you should then consider the other parties that would be in the relationship. Do they want this sort of commitment or they are only getting into it as a compromise to please the other parties in the relationship? For there to be consent, there should be an authentic and willing consideration of options and implications of the relationship. At the most basic level, be sure that everyone who is involved truly wants to be in this kind of a relationship.

TAKE SELF-RESPONSIBILITY

Self-responsibility arises from people knowing what they want and ultimately choosing to have a polyamorous relationship. It also occurs in how individuals decide to handle their relationships. For people in relationships, taking personal responsibility includes negotiating compassionately for what they want in a relationship.

GET THE BALANCE RIGHT

Getting a balance between reliance and responsibility in a normal relationship can be quite difficult, let alone a polyamorous relationship. Even worse still is when two or more partners enter the relationship causing disharmony among the partners. This is even more pronounce if the partners in the relationship have competing needs and demands. The third person and tilt the balance as someone who's entitled to the relationship which might lead to breaking up of the whole thing.

CONSIDER JEALOUSY

It is not unusual for one of the parties to feel like they are not getting as much from the relationship as the other partners. Considering how jealousy affects the dynamics of a relationship is very important when you are planning to enter into a relationship with more than one party. People who have problems dealing with jealousy may find this kind of relationship very difficult.

PLAN YOUR IDEAL RELATIONSHIP

When you have considered the above conditions and you have seen that you have the emotional and mental stability to have a polyamorous relationship then you need to sit down and design the ideal relationship that you and your partners want. Here you agree on what you and your partners are comfortable within the relationship so that you do not have problems in future decisions or occurrences. This will help define the boundaries and limits of the relationship.

CHOOSE PARTNERS WITH COMPATIBLE ORIENTATION

You need to try to find partners with compatible orientations and ideas. If you are getting into the polyamorous relationship for the sexual variety or the emotional variety you all need to be in sync with the reasons you are getting involved with each other. Talking about motivations and boundaries with prospective partners can help clarify expectations from the beginning, eliminating the overwhelming feeling of one partner's emotional sexual desires trumping over the rest.

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FLEXIBILITY

A relationship involving multiple partners would naturally require the parties to be more flexible and incorporate more variety of ideas into it. Relationships change over time and this does not mean they've failed. It can simply mean that the people involved have evolved, shifting their needs and personalities as the years' pass. Sex is not the only binding factor in the relationship. The ways of finding clue through polyamorous dating sites, forums or blogs. Devoid of it, partners can still rely on each other for assistance in times of need, remain emotionally supportive, and even co-parent effectively. It is undisputable that that can lead to a successful relationship.

DE-EMPHASIS SEXUALITY

Even though polyamorous relationships are difficult to understand because they allow people to have sex with multiple partners, it turns out that the emotional aspects of the relationships are far more important. They require a lot of emotional stability and support from all parties to successfully maintain.