My poly experience and last week in Bolivia
Mar 31
posted by Michael Smith in
Adventure
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I first came across polyamory in the Radical Honesty/Getting Real world in 2000. And I saw Clara Griffin speak on poly at the Building Bridges conference in 2001. At the time it seemed a pretty weird idea of being honest about dating multiple people. But as I had experienced dating multiple people without honesty (ie cheating) on both sides of the fence which was not fun so I knew that there might be something to honest multiple partners. My next long term relationship with Sandy was open and was a vehicle for both our personal growths. My experience is that all relationships can be an aid to growing spiritually and that poly ones can be a way to grow even faster. Party due to the extra people and situations. partly due to the assumption in a poly relationship that lots of extra explicit communication will be required up front. And poly people general do seem to do more learning about relationship issues and how to solve them than mono people - or at least the ones I meet do.
More recently I have studied energy systems such as chakras and meridians and learned that different people have different capacities to relate to multiple partners at once. Some people have "wiring" to be more jealous than others (and this "wiring" can be changed either way with energy work and experience). And some people just don't form the same energetic bonds as others.
Here is Bolivia I have not come across any poly groups - but doesn't mean that they don't exist. And if the Latin culture here is anything like France then the concept of mistresses is common and can be dealt with in a open way. I just read the book "Sideways: Travels with Kafka, Hunter S and Kerouac" by Patrick O'Neil and he talks about the pattern of young people in Columbia dating multiple partners. He thinks that folks here have a much more released attitude to sex that in the US. Anyway I recommend this book for wild travel adventures and a young man's journey to learn about himself. It is funny too!
This is my last week in Bolivia - I felt sad earlier this week thinking about leaving not having done everything I wanted to - and now I accept what is (thank you EFT adn Byron Katie for your help on this!). I will be back in Rockville for only one week so if you want to see me the 4/6 Sandbox on Polyamory as a spirirutal pah would be a good time. The rest of the week I am going to various healers, buying supplies for my next trip and at the weekend to a Mark Dunn workshop on using consciousness to heal and to working large group morphic fields. On Tuesday 4/12 I fly to Mexico to the Mayan temples and the beach for a workshop with Sylvia Brallier who I met at FSG a few years ago when I got my tattoo. Then on to Peru. I don't expect to be back in Rockville until December for Yule party...
