Treatise on Love - Part III - Inquiry on Partnerships

Tonight i was visiting with a friend who is very knowledgeable about different types of relationships. We were discussing some of the finer points of polyamory and monogamy, among other things.

Love takes on many forms and meaning for everyone. On our journey through life, the questions of who to love and when come up repeatedly. Some of my very good friends consider themselves polyamorous. They have numerous concurrent relationships. Sometimes it seems like it works very well, and other times, there seems to be just as much angst as any other type of relationship configuration. Polyamory seems to flow into whatever form someone wants it to be - if it's not monogamous, the better word to describe it is polyamory. From my vantage point, as the observer, it seems as though the key ingredient here is communication, and knowing oneself and consideration of others.

In the Native American tradition there is a Tantric practice called Quodoushka. The philosophy is that there is a wheel of relationship possibilities. There is monogamy, polyamory, free dancing, and celibacy. During my life, i've had experiences with all of these types of relationship configurations, albeit sometimes without being conscious of what i was doing or not having a very comprehensive self knowledge.

Each expression of relationship has it's lessons, and it's parallel to what our current society deems as "normal". Some people question the validity of lesbian and homosexual relationships, as a type of love partnership. In my estimation, each one is a valid expression of love, no matter how our current society categorizes it.