I can sometimes forget how difficult college was, even if it was only a few years ago.

The difficulty does not lie in homework, grades, all-nighters and those finals that may be take-home but take 20 hours to finish instead of a short two hours. Academic achievement only goes so...

The Phoenix, a bird from greek mythology, is a stunning representation of what Lent really means to me. Such as the symbolic meaning of lent where there is a cycle of death and rebirth the Phoenix, once they turn old, catches on fire, burn, and from the ashes becomes a...

In some of the online groups I'm in, like clockwork, beginning in November and ending after Feb. 14, I see comment threads discussing the coming holidays and spending time with significant others. But going into this "love season," I realized that being polyamorous has lessened my expectation that New Year's...

Spirituality and kink are two words that, although I'm used to describing as part of my life together, are viewed as very separate. I scarcely know many religions or spiritualties that open the doors widely, and accepting, out to the kink community.

Although some religions and spiritualties are making...

I have noticed myself growing frustrated lately. Although I'm used to having multiple partners (and to my partners having other partners), I'm beginning to feel resentful of the "deli" approach that many people take to polyamory. It doesn't make me feel attractive; it makes me feel like I'm just another...

Please don't define me.

It's an overriding theme for people to use stereotypical definitions for labels. No wonder the anti-label camp stands strong. And no group is innocent of doing it. It's a genuinely widespread problem in the mainstream and in the leather, poly, and LGBT communities to which I...

Eric and I broke up about a month ago. There were some issues that couldn't be worked out, he and I both had branched out into different types of relationships, and even though it's important to work hard in accepting partner's partners... there were mutual dislikes all around. It's not...

One thing about polyamory and non-monogamy that's both a blessing and a curse is that working through feelings and needs becomes an art form. It is not a scientific discovery that everyone has different needs. Throw in different sexual orientations and gender identities -- straight, gay, bi, pansexual, transgender, queer...

This year I made a New Year's resolution to try to have more focused relationships while cutting down on partners, partly for sanity reasons, partly for clarity, partly to be truer to myself, and partly to take care of myself emotionally. I am notorious for taking on too much at...

I will always be a supporter of continuing sexual education. In my opinion there is always something that can go wrong, even in non-kinky sex: unsafe practices, poor communication, and the complications that arise with multiple partners or activities considered kinky. I frequently travel to kink classes and conferences; it's...

Whenever I have a hard time communicating with a polyamorous partner I remember some words of wisdom my therapist endowed on me. I was having a hard time in relationships and he pointed out communication in even a simple monogamous relationship can get somewhat difficult, but I've always had a...

A part of my life I sometimes struggle with is my need of submission. I have had discussions more than once with people on this and have been told that it's a phase, it's OK, or as my mother sometimes puts it "be your own woman!" Submission, in my opinion,...

I dance to my own drum when it comes to my sexual identity. After years of experimenting, growth, and realization, I was faced with two realities: 1) I am pansexual, someone who is attracted to male, female, and transgender individuals; and 2) despite the advances that the LGBTQA movement has...

I have mulled over something for about a month now...

After hearing the argument thatFifty Shades of Grey overrides the Women's Movement I feel somewhat taken back... despite identifying myself as submissive and agreeing to follow someone else's rules, a big part of my volunteering in college was...

Recently, I have been poking around online to see if anyone is looking for the same thing I am looking for when it comes to kinks and fetishes. But when I look at kink and fetish ads in newspapers and online, among the most confusing things for me are the...

Eric and I are going on five years this July. Many people's response when they learn this is to say that I'm two years away from the seven-year itch.

With a long-distance relationship, that itch comes every four months and there was a scratch after two years. In the age...

I have always said that I have blood family and chosen family. My blood family, which, depending on the day of the week and the moon cycle, might not be talking to me, is eclectic. My chosen family, which is made up of close friends from my kink and church...

At church last night, I came out as polyamorous.

It was an endorphin rush. Before I'm told that coming out in a setting like this is really for me and not for anyone else, let me tell you that it was already somewhat apparent that I was poly. With the...

I have a good amount of open relationships. I'm young, I'm 25, and at the moment I'm not in a place in my life where commitment fits. I also have a thing for guys my father's age... and for the most part that will never lead to a long-standing relationship....

My friends often have really great ideas.

Let me rephrase. I often have friends to whom I am "in service," people whose directions I consciously agree to follow (completely non-sexually) or submit to, who have really great ideas. The conversation then turns to implementing said ideas, and the word "we"...