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Texasdew

New member
Hello Everyone, I'm a single parent (separated) who is trying to learn as much as possible about poly. I met a lovely poly couple and it has peaked my curiosity and I feel it could be for me but I want to learn more before jumping right in.
 
Welcome Texas Dew! You have come to the right place to hear about multiple perspectives and experiences of poly. The Advanced Search tab is your friend. The Blogs and Personal Stories forum is great.

Leetah
 
Hi Texasdew - and welcome to the Forum! Please feel free to post any thoughts or questions you have to the Poly Relationships Corner or the General Poly Discussion sections. Those sections are quite active and you are certain to get some feedback to your posts - we have a good number of experienced poly folks here are generally friendly and helpful. Al
 
Greetings Texasdew,
Welcome to our forum. Please feel free to lurk, browse, etc.

If you are like me, you'll find Polyamory.com to be a cornucopia of poly information and wisdom. Just have a look around and see what calls to you; let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Kevin T., "official greeter" :)

Notes:

There's a *lot* of good info in Golden Nuggets. Have a look!

Please read through the guidelines if you haven't already.

Note: You needn't read every reply to your posts, especially if someone posts in a disagreeable way. Given the size and scope of the site it's hard not to run into the occasional disagreeable person. Please contact the mods if you do (or if you see any spam), and you can block the person if you want.

If you have any questions about the board itself, please private-message a mod and they'll do their best to help.

Welcome aboard!
 
Welcome to the forum, Texasdew.
 
Texasdew, please don't "be poly" in order to fit in with a couple. If they are truly polyamorous, then at this stage they (IMNSHO) ought to be spending MUCH more time educating you than recruiting you.

I'm guessing it's going to be a closed threesome, so not so much polyamory as polyfidelity or rather group marriage & therefore more like "real couple + 1." The wife "wants to explore her bi side" & they've maybe already been observing that "you seem like you might be bi too."

If I was going to recommend readings & discussions for you, it wouldn't be all the usual cheery fluff about how wonderful polyamory is (& therefore how wonderful anyone is who calls themselves "poly" :rolleyes:), but rather on effective skills with communication & problem-solving, & how to recognize & repair an impending problem before it's a crisis.

Of course, you ought to immediately begin by reading up on unicorns. The experience can feel like being made a couple's "special princess"... or their live-in rent-paying sex-toy, cut off from the outside world & readily replaceable. The topic comes up regularly, so there's a really long thread (made up of multiple discussions since 2009) --
Unicorns & Unicorn Hunters
 
I wasn't recruited or invited to be in their relationship but thank you for the concern. Nor was I turning poly to fit in with them. I simply met nice people who live differently than I have and described an alternative lifestyle to my own. As I am starting over again in that department I thought It would be something to research and consider. I will however thank you for the warning for unicorn hunters and read the articles you shared and if you have anymore suggested reading I will fully heartily appreciate the links.
 
Leetah, Al99

Thank you both for the warm greetings, I will be sure to look around the site and use the tabs suggested. Would either of you have any particular article suggested readings as well? Hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend.

Texas
 
The book I would most recommend is "Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships" by Tristan Taormino - available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. The author does an an excellent job of presenting consensual non-monogamy as a whole, polyamory's place with the larger sphere of consensual non-monogamy, and then a good overview of polyamory as well as some suggestions on how to best navigate the poly lifestyle in an ethical manner. The book is slightly dated in it's technological references and doesn't get into some of the newer poly terms such as "compersion" - but this really doesn't affect the presentation in any significant way.

Other major poly texts include "The Ethical Slut", a classic early text on poly, recently updated, and a worthwhile read - it delves more into the sexuality aspect - and "More Than Two", a very long book that I personally find to be arduous and overly opinionated - but nevertheless an essential read if you decide on poly as a lifestyle - if for no other reason than the topics it covers present excellent food for thought and discussion points.

Also, you might want to visit polyweekly.com - a poly podcast site with over 500 archived podcasts.

Hope this helps. Al
 
Thank you Al for the materials. I wish there was a dictionary tab on this site as I don't yet posses the vocabulary for this topic without looking foolish or simply unable to answer seemly basic questions. Hopefully the books will help me.
 
Thank you Nox. Sorry didn't see your reply earlier. Can I ask what mono female means if it doesn't mean singular as there a tx girl below that line? Sorry if it's a silly question I'm out of my depths here.
 
Morethantwo.com has an excellent poly glossary.
 
Thank you Nox. Sorry didn't see your reply earlier. Can I ask what mono female means if it doesn't mean singular as there a tx girl below that line? Sorry if it's a silly question I'm out of my depths here.

Kay doesn't have any interest in dating anyone but me. She's monogamous.
 
There is a glossary/dictionary thread. But it's not super easy to find.

Under 'Stickies' in this Master Thread, the first link is the Glossary and Dictionary thread. Just keep in mind that definitions are only the start. Poly people don't always agree on definitions. It can be really productive to ask other poly folks what their definition of various things are.

The rest of the master threads are also worth perusing.
http://www.polyamory.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1830
 
I think curiosity is a great motivator and that it is also wise to learn as much as possible before making any moves toward a new relationship. I am new and here to learn too.
 
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