#cnm

s.e. is here with a whole load of incredible advice in the latest installment of our first polyamory guide at Scarleteen! They're here to bring light to some of the yucky, icky...sticky stuff that all relationships go through. Though sometimes we may have the tendency to want to skip the icky parts or glide over conflict in our relationships, s.e. reminds us that part of the joy of relationships is learning how to communicate our needs and navigate through conflict together, hopefully learning a thing or two about ourselves and each other along the way.

"If you’re having relationship⁠ problems, it can be tempting to think there’s a quick fix that will cut through the yucky stuff of navigating a tough conversation. We hear from some visitors to Scarleteen who think opening up a relationship—usually meaning polyamory or nonmonogamy—is that easy fix. As a team that includes many nonmonogamous/poly people with decades of experience, we usually recommend pretty strongly against that... If your relationship feels like it’s going sour, or like something big one or both of you want is missing, it’s time to do some serious internal work, not introduce new factors. They’ll only complicate things, and you’ll also find that adding a new dimension to your relationship may only reinforce or replicate the existing problems. Being in an open relationship⁠ requires a LOT of communication⁠, extra work, and open-heartedness. Sometimes that’s serious talks about the structure of your relationship, but it’s also sheer practicalities such as wrangling schedules. If you haven’t been in an open relationship before, you’re going to be learning and evolving as you go. Exploring different relationship structures is how you learn more about what you like and want, but you might be surprised by how much work is involved. And since the root of relationship issues is often communication, piling on MORE communication makes things even more difficult."

MORE CAT NAMED MOJAVE OC'S!!

This is Benji, and he is a Bedlington Terrier!

He is a gardener, and grows Lily of the Valley inside of his house. He's supposed to be living in the middle of nowhere with the others in the town, and would probably be hunted for poisoning others with his lilies.

Avant et Maintenant. Dans cette série, toutes les photos anciennes viennent de : @postcard-from-the-past .