I had the incredible honor and pleasure of officiating the wedding of two dear friends of mine in New Jersey this weekend. It was a beautiful event filled with fun, laughter, joyous tears, and a whole lot of dancing. Truth be told, I love weddings… a lot. They are a blast, but my excitement over two people celebrating their love and hope for the future seems to surprise a lot of people. I guess it comes as a shock that a polyamorous, libertine, burner, pansexual, nomadic person like myself would enjoy a traditional celebration that I have no intention of ever doing myself.
That simply isn’t the case though. I enjoy the diverse forms that love and relationships can take. If two (or more) people love each other and wish to have an event to celebrate that then I am all over it. Just because I don’t want something similar at this point in my life doesn’t mean I won’t congratulate and help my loved ones who do. I also don’t want kids but I find joy in my nieces and nephews, as well as the relationships they represent between children and parents.
As humankind loosens the chains of societal norms and begins to express the incredible diversity of tastes and preferences I believe we will all appreciate and embrace love in all its forms. Monogamy works for many but not for all, but that does not make one expression of love “right” or “wrong”, it just means that we are complex social creatures who find love through many paths… and I think that is a good thing. This world needs more paths to acceptance, love, joy, intimacy, sex, and happiness. Love is not a zero-sum game, love you experience does not take away the love I experience, in fact, I think it is quite the opposite. The more love the world experiences and the more ways we find it, the better off the world will be.
Wandering Oak 