Dating Hints

Posts Tagged ‘relationshps’

Have you found yourself asking, “What is an open relationship” or “Are we in an open relationship?” If so, hopefully it isn’t because you agreed to such a relationship without understanding what it really means.

If you and your partner want to have a successful relationship (open or not), it’s absolutely critical to have clarity on your expectations of each other. This is rarely more important than when committing to a non-traditional arrangement.

Okay…back to the question. What is an open relationship? The complicated thing is that the term has different meanings to different people, so take a look at some of these categories and come to a finite agreement with your partner on some open relationship rules.

Completely Unbounded
For some people, an open relationship means absolutely no boundaries. It means that neither partner is committed to anything with the other. Like a single person, both partners are free to do whatever without disclosing it to the person they’re in an open relationship with. There are no real expectations or open relationship rules in this situation. You may see each other regularly or not, have intimacy or not, date other people or not. One might even argue that this type of arrangement is not a relationship at all; however, it is what works for some people who desire companionship and/or intimacy without any obligations.

Unbounded but Disclosed

Some people seek the freedom of these relationship; however, they draw the line at secrecy. For example, in an open relationship with disclosure as the only boundary, both partners know about each others’ additional relationships. The only expectation is to always keep communication lines open and to keep one another in the loop.

This type of open relationship means no time, effort, dating or romance requirements. The person you share this arrangement with may have another person as his or her primary partner, leaving little room for further restrictions. Even if you are the primary partner in an open relationship like this, you may get far less attention than someone else.

The most important reason to ask your partner “What is an open relationship to you,” is that for some people the term simply means keeping communication lines open.

It doesn’t have anything to do with having outside relationships or openly accepting affairs. It just means to speak openly with each other about the evolution of the relationship. Sometimes, this type of open relationship means that there are no lifetime promises of commitment; rather two people agree to go with the flow and see what happens.

No matter what direction you choose, specifics are vital. You need to clearly define the open relationship rules and ask questions until you achieve 100% clarity.

Alternative relationships are not for everyone, but neither is anything else in the world. Make sure to weigh the decision against your personal value system before agreeing to it; and make arrangements to revisit the subject regularly in case it’s not working.