Uncertainty is all around us. Many people are out of work, wondering where the next paycheck will come from; some have no health insurance or inadequate coverage. Even folks with a stable job might feel the desire to change careers or face unexpected expenses. Then there is the uncertainty on a much larger scale; the economy, global politics, and the environment are just a few areas we might focus our attention and feel the uncertainty of the times we live in. Personally, there’s some uncertainty in my life right now. I am nearly one-month into a two-month housesitting situation, with no idea where I will go at the end of it.

FEAR. What a scary word; I think of it and I cringe. Things don’t change because of this word. This word is the main reason we stay in the same relationships, same patterns, same jobs, same everything. We fear, fear, fear. It is scary and our pain-bodies love it. As soon as we feel like we can change something, our pain-body freaks out and says, “Oh, I don’t think so! Feed me fear, I must stay with you. You cannot let me go.” Fear inhibits us from moving forward; from being ‘risky.’ We were given this present from our families, friends, and the media.

I applaud Geneveve Levin for her candid and reflective essay about her experience with a married man in an open relationship. In this case, my husband. To continue the conversation she initiated, I thought I would pipe in. I am glad she wrote about her experience–she is right that this can be a sensitive topic, but it is a great one to give more breathing room to. What I have found being in an open relationship is that folks are curious about it, occasionally inspired, sometimes threatened, and at times, slightly baffled. I am neither proselytizer nor sage, just a woman who prefers to do things in a way that makes sense to me. For me and Ryan, this manifests in the freedom to be enriched by human connection and intimacy in all forms.