So far I’ve been a serial monogamist, but I don’t think that long-term monogamy, like a marriage, will work for me. I want to transition into a poly lifestyle or an open relationship someday, but I’m not sure how. I would probably hardly ever act on it, but it would be a big relief to know that the possibility was open. I think that the way traditional marriage and nuclear families are set up, it is destined not to work for many people. Ideally, husbands and wives are friendly and passionate toward each other for the rest of their lives and are responsible enough to raise children together and share finances. I just don’t think one person can fill all those roles, all the time. The nuclear family is a pretty new construction; in many older societies, the extended family chipped in to raise the children and grown children supported their parents.
I’d like to have close ties with my extended family, be on my own financially, have a life partner who I’m emotionally close to, and be in an open relationship sexually. It seems like most people are monogamous and want a regular nuclear family, so I have no idea where I’ll meet a partner who wants all the same things I do.