Page Turner

I was terrified of opening my marriage to outside influence. Because it was the center of my life and meant more than anything. But as I thought through my fears, I realized something: Testing that bond was a win-win scenario.Best case, we would weather the challenges, and I would have a wealth of experiences and emotional bonds with others that could complement my life.Worst case, I was wrong about the strength of what we I had together, and it would tear us apart.But if what we had were that easily ruined, was it really all that great in the first place? And wouldn__ I want to know now, 4 years into the marriage, rather than another 20 or 30 years down the road?

It__ natural to avoid the things we fear. Seeking out what terrifies me seems insane on a certain level, but more and more, the longer I__ alive, I find myself drawn to my most intense feelings, both good and bad. It seems that they are screaming out to me for a reason and that I have to know what they__e trying to say.

If there__ anything I__e learned from polyamory, it__ that the quickest way to destroy a relationship is to try to make it into something it__ not, to force it into a box that it doesn__ really fit in, and to slap labels on something and assume that those labels give the relationship value. No, no, and no. What you end up with is damaged goods in a mislabeled package that end up absolutely where you didn__ want to send the damn thing in the first place.

BDSM stands for Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, and Sadism and Masochism. Yeah, it should really be BDDSSM, but BDSM looks less like a cat sitting on a keyboard, so they went with that.

When I date, I date a lot. I give most people a chance but let very few into my heart. Think of it like trying on clothes before you buy them. It takes out the guesswork. Why commit before you__e ready? And ideally you end up having to make fewer returns. Of course there are those awkward moments when you__e standing in unfamiliar light in front of a questionably shaped mirror squinting at your torso and thinking to yourself __o I have a bra somewhere that__l make this thing work? Could I get one?