<----is very confused :dizzy: I stopped reading halfway down page 2, and when I have more time I plan to read the rest. Maybe it will make more sense later! btw...my opinions on open marriage change all the time. So I think I am with Loulabelle, in that I just am not at a point that I could handle it.

My husband and I have been married almost 5 years now. We have an open relationship and have from the begining. Every person is different, their views and their personality. How in the world can anyone think one thing will work for everyone? I took vows to love my husband for the rest of my life, to be honest with him and support him. I don't think that is much different from another person's marriage. We do what makes us happy. We have a strong family and I wouldn't want it any other way. :love:

Listen to Sharni,

In Australia, nobody really cares about your private life unless it impacts adversely

on ours.

We seem to lack the need to judge our neighbours, probably because it's just too much like hard work.

Should we rename us Pixiestralia?

Explains my love for all of you glorious Aussies!

For a long time I've believed that the biggest difference between our 2 cultures is that Oz is unencumbered with the myth of a Puritan heritage like we have here...but maybe you're right, we do have a lot of Type-A personality control freaks running the show...

I don't take this personal. My ex tried to MAKE me feel this way but it didn't work. This is about MY needs, ME trying to express myself, NOT about LOVE. Love is what I felt for my husband. Not my sexual partners.

I think every couple has the right to decide what sort of relationship they want to have..... what they want and don't want, can and can't handle, what the boundaries are and how and when and IF they should expand. I think as each couple decides these things and feels happy and settled with their choices, that those choices should be respected by everyone else. In other words, no judging the other guy. We're all entitled to have the kind of relationship that works FOR US, not for someone else.

That being said... while I have zero problem with someone who practices an open marriage lifestyle, I myself could not do so. I'm simply not "built" that way, that's all there is to it.

To each his own. I'm entitled to my choices, and you're entitled to yours. More power to us both.

I think it is paramount that partners are comfortable and open-eyed about the behavior they practice. Indeed, many people connect and develop very serious emotions out of intimacy. This can certainly threaten an existing relationship regardless of the original intentions in an attempt at swinging.

And conversely, others can separate sexual behaviour from love. We are all different and should express ourselves accordingly. Someone who has insecurity, has no business being in an open marriage whether there S/O does or not.

Be true to thine own self.