CAPTION CONTEST!
We’re giving out a signed first edition of Dr. Elisabeth Sheff’s forthcoming book The Polyamorists Next Door–normally one of the $500 perks of our crowdfunding campaign–to the More Than Two backer who writes the best caption for this image.
Polyamory writer and activist Louisa Leontiades has published a piece on the Huffington Post called The Hell of Monogamy. In it, she describes her own experiences trying to force herself to fit a model of relationship that wasn’t a good match for her.
This essay got me thinking about my own past, and how it is I have never faced trying to squeeze into a monogamous relationship.
It’s something I hear every day: “Relationships take work.” “Being in one relationship is hard work; being in more than one relationship is even more work.” “Polyamory takes work.”
I have been thinking a fair bit about relationship work these days, particularly since the stress of doing this crowdfunding campaign and working on the book has been taking me away from several of my partners, who would like more time with me. (Who knew that trying to change the world would take this much time?)
Woohoo! Our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for More Than Two is now live!
We have both been neglecting our entire lives for the last week while we’ve geared up to launch this crowdfunding campaign. (Seriously, who knew it would be so much work? Whew!) We’ve been shooting movies, writing copy, peering at spreadsheets, putting crowdfunding incentives together…and we’ve made some interesting packages. Want Badass McProblemsolver to solve your poly-related problem in a video? Want a custom-designed programmable sex toy? There’s all that and more available!
A conversation recently came up amongst a group of poly folks I know: what happens when a couple starts traveling down the road to polyamory, and then problems come up?
At first, I didn’t really understand the question. After all, what do we do when problems come up in any aspect of our lives? We deal with them. We attempt to solve them, the best way we know how. And, somehow, we muddle through. After all, that’s life, right?
I was recently asked to do a media interview about polyamory. This happens from time to time, and most of the questions I’m asked tend to be fairly predictable: How do you deal with jealousy? What do you tell your parents or your kids? Do you think polyamory is the next cultural revolution?
This interview was quite different, and one of the questions I was asked helped crystallize for me some of the guiding ideals about the relationships I choose.
I first started writing about polyamory over on xeromag.com in 1998 or thereabouts. Since then, I’ve written about a zillion words about polyamory: on the More Than Two website, on my blog, and in forums all over the Internet.
So why a book?