Monday, March 9, 2009

Polyamory

Where do I begin? Blogging seems to have become such a natural and common place activity. I am so private a person I have never considered a journal nor diary . However I feel compelled to talk about my inner most thoughts and personal demons in such a public forum.
Am I a polyamorist? That's what I am asking myself. My wife has confessed to me that she is and all I seem to be focused on is how I am not enough. Now we have enjoyed an open relationship for many years. But now to evolve from open to polyamory scares me. See I am the typical unflappable personality, but I can't seem to shake the feeling of somehow I drove my Dear Wife to seek out others. DW, to her created, has repeatedly tried to aleviate those fears. But now I am driving her away with my emotions on this matter. I tell myself to just let it go and trust in us but jealousy seems to have taken it's toll on me and her to a point of ending our relationship.
We argue about stuff like if she meets a man, she feels like I ought to be buddy buddy. I explained to her very distinctly that I would be lukewarm at best. I promised not to taint but I know I would never fully warm up to another guy. We always talked about another woman fulltime, even before we discovered the term polyamory, and after awhile i agreed to that. I liked being open. I liked the non-committal aspect of being open. Though I may felt the twinges of jealousy then I always dealt with it. Now I feel like everything has become bigger than me. Bigger than us. This makes normal marital issues magnified to tremendous amounts where once they were easy to deal with.
DW and I have been fussing but I admit I am the antagonist in this story. I want, need to break this cycle of negativity. But like some addict I seem bent on trying to prove that she is only doing this because I am not enough and how do I make this right. Problem is that I am enough and she needs these other dynamics to have a fulfilling life.
So now I ask myself am I polyamory because in learning more about her I have been forced to learn about myself. DW would always say even in being open I am the one that always gets more emotionally involved and that in reality she was the one who had to learn to adjust and be poly and I may be fighting my natural tendencies for fear of a lack of control. Lack of control(jealousy) something I thought I truly conquered years ago. Yes I am a polyamorist. But this jealousy thing is kicking my ass.
I have to admit getting these thoughts out of my head has been a little theraputic. Think I will do this again.

2 comments:

  1. I'm wondering...you say that you and your wife have always been open. If you have always seen other women and she has always seen other men, where is this new-found jealousy coming from? Or is it that there have only been women (I'm guessing that since you only mentioned having past relationships with women) and now there are men involved on her end?

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  2. great question. we have always been with women and never got emotionally attached except on one occasion. She always said she only wanted women now she wants men and to establish a poly relationship with one. This makes me feel like I have in some way failed as a husband and now she is seeking a surrogate. This she tells me is not the case. But when my feelings on the matter get involved I loose my since of perspective. I really am trying to adjust best I can. I am not ignorant of this short coming.

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