Can't Wait! Poly Living in Philadelphia this Weekend

Hi all - Though I've definitely been looking forward to it, now that PolyLiving is almost here, I'm getting excited about it. There will be a great mix of intriguing programs presented by long-time community friends and newcomers alike, and after some years off the polyamory grid, we'll be hearing what keynoter Deborah Anapol has to say about polyamory in the 21st century.

On the poly-in-the-media front, the Washington Post will have a reporter present to cover the event. Also, Polyamory in the News blogger Alan will be covering the event for Minx of the Polyamory Weekly podcast. Both Alan and Minx make a very valuable contribution to the community, and I'm really glad that the portion of the wider polyamory community unable to attend will have a chance to hear about the conference in such a direct way.

Lots of fun will be had on Saturday evening. My dear friend Mim Chapman's video of her sex ed stage play, Penis/Vagina Dialogues, will be featured, along with the ever popular Cuddle Party. And (my sweetie) Jim Fleckenstein of the Institute for 21st Century Relationships/the Foundation of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom will be present all weekend extending his hand to the poly community and learning more about how best ITCR/FNCSF might serve polyfolk everywhere.

So there will be many opportunities to learn, gain resources, make friends, meet future loves (poly relationships understandably tend to sprout like weeds from these conferences), get the word out, and just have a great good time in poly community. And of course, none of this would be happening without the efforts of our dearly departed friend, George Marvil, PolyLiving's founder. Neither would it be happening without the efforts of Robyn Trask and Jesus Garcia of LovingMore, who have picked up where George left off and are once again making this very popular conference available to serve both long-time poly community members and to provide education and support to poly newbies as well.

Hope I'll see you there!

Is it Love, or a Mutual Strangulation Society?

Well, it's been too long since I posted here. I am inspired today by an excellent article published by CNN from Oprah.com titled the same as this blog entry. You can read it here.

What's fascinating about this article is that it tells the truth about the unhealthy expectations our society encourages us to adopt around our love relationships. Many of we polyfolk know this already; in many cases it accounts for why we reject the monogamous model outright and choose a different relationship path. Still, it's refreshing to see Oprah's mighty empire challenge the status quo.

That said, the article's author, life coach and Harvard Ph.D. Martha Beck apparently felt compelled to assure us that she is "a big fan of sexual monogamy." Interesting that she needed to make that clear. Could it be that she's trying to avoid the potential for attacks from the marriage movement? Maybe it's her Mormon origins. Wait!.... No, nevermind. Regardless, to Dr. Beck I say "Kudos!"