Starflower
Can You Love More than One Person?
Can you love more than one person at a time? That’s the central question that comes up every time the subject of polyamory is discussed. If you don’t know what polyamory means, this article about a polyamorous relationship explains it quite well.
Basically, polyamory is about loving more than one person at a time, but also leading simultaneous relationships with each one of those people. It’s not about “cheating”, nor about sleeping around or being promiscuous. It’s about couples, who make a conscious and open decision to share each other with several partners – not just physically, but emotionally.
There is a surprising number of people who believe in and practice polyamory and there are numerous books, forums and support groups dedicated to issues like: definitions of polyamory, polyamourous practice, strategies for dealing with polyamory, and of course… jealousy. That’s obviously the issue it tends to come down to and the problem that makes our opening question hard to answer affirmatively.
Well, of course you CAN love more than one person at a time. Emotions are complex and love is one of the most complex emotions of them all. Of course it can happen that love strikes more than once. But is polyamory the best solution to that conundrum?
The real question is not whether you can love more than one person at a time, but if you can share your partner with several others – and, more importantly, whether both partners are willing to support that decision. If one partner wants a polyamourous relationship, maybe because of indecision, but the other partner is merely playing along out of fear of losing the relationship… there’s trouble ahead!
If, on the other hand, all parties (and partners) are willing to give polyamory a try and everyone involved is truly willing to share their partner, it can probably work. I would , however, doubt that many relationships (or people) are made for the polyamourous lifestyle.
