I’m not sure whether poly’s a… part of my true self or whatever, but it describes my current situation. I’d most likely be happy with having the triad as a polyfi arrangement or — if things fall apart with my current two dear ones — (serial) monogamy is something I’d at least consider again.

I like the current arrangement, though. I like hearing about our girlfriend’s experiences with others, as she’s all happy and excited and enthusiastic… knowing she’s happy is good, plus it sort of gets reflected back to our boyfriend and me. I also seem to be pretty much incapable of jealousy, which probably helps.

[...]The Influx of Young People Identifying as Polyamorous | Loving More – PEPTalk (Polyamory Educational Publications)[...]…

I’ve noticed an increase in openly poly people my age over that time. I was really active in the UK National Union of Students LGBT campaign. During NUS LGBT conferences different groups hold caucuses of people who identify as belonging to a particular group (such as disabled students, bisexual students, mature students etc). Initially discussions of polyamory at these events were met with ignorance, confusion and not a little hostility. By my last conference before graduating, an informal poly caucus was one of the best attended caucuses present. It took some fairly active awareness raising and willingness to debate but within that circle things have definitely improved. We’ve been holding a lot of workshops and debates as well as making zines and writing articles.

Increased visibility and access to information gives young poly people a word to describe what they might already have been doing/interested in, a lot of resources to help them through the initial exploration and a feeling that they’re not the only ones.

Also, I don’t think that young poly people are any more likely to be “not really poly” than those who come to it later in life.

Even back then it was considered very weird among my peers for me to be that way, so I think the influx we’ve scene in recent years is more of a fad, an experiment.
I doubt the numbers will keep increasing as the years go by, polyamory isn’t for everyone of course.

I personally don’t know how being poly will factor into my life later, I doubt I have the experience to predict such but I will say that I personally come into it with honest intentions, that I tried monogamous relationships and they did not work because I sought more then one serious partner.

For me personally, I feel that I never stop loving someone I’ve had a deep connection with. And yet, my partners’ (“justifiable”) jealousy in a monogamous relationship always seems to keep me from seeing and even speaking to an ex. I’m not beyond jealousy myself, but I feel that times are changing and with them, we need to start changing the way we think.

I relate it to racism or homophobia in the sense that our rigid beliefs about polyamory/loving other ppl/appropriate relationship behavior create a bias that affects the way we feel toward one another and the way we treat each other. It justifies our rage, which justifies our response (hatred, agression, etc..).

But why not love and let love? What harm can come of that?

I grew up in a city of millions. My husband grew up in a city of under ten thousand. We have had very different experiences when it comes to relationships. I was the first person my husband had ever been in a serious relationship with. I want him to have the ability to experience how it feels to love and be loved by another man or woman. I have been truly loved by very few of the people I have ever had a romantic relationship and want the option to share the love I have in my heart.

Because there are many ways to love and be loved by others, my husband and I feel that the love we feel for others is nothing to be ashamed of, and rather something to be happy about and proud of.

While we often flirt, cuddle, etc with someone when one of us is not around, we also tend to be interested in the same people, and don’t have much interest in having a relationship or sex with someone when the other spouse is not involved.