More often than not, I get really excited when I'm presented with a new situation, or way of living. My life is a series of inconsistencies, and lacks a true pattern, so when someone throws a something new into the mix, I immediately perk up.
Not often enough does this involve the idea of love, or living with and loving a significant other.
Over the past two years, I've been performing Sugar & Vice: All The Men We've Never Slept With with my cabaret partner, Brydie Lee-Kennedy. This has, quite possibly, been the most educational experience I've ever had, when it comes to love, relationships, and how we date. In the show, Brydie and I share personal stories of love, dating, and general embarrassment, but it's when we interact with audience that we get the most exceptional stories. Stories of love, sure, but we also get dating, cheating, threesomes, marriage, polyamory, adultery, monogamy - the list goes on. There is so much that I was so unaware of (specifically threesomes and polyamory, but don't worry, I've been educated accordingly - not at the same time, although that would be a good story!).
As a person with a faith, it has been assumed by many that I approach love, dating, and relationships in a "particular" (you know what I'm sayin') way. I reserve a special chuckle, for when partners exclaim "Whoa - is that what you think about love/sex/dating/etc. ? You are like no other Christian I've ever met!". It is one of the only times I get to gently re-shape someone's predisposed opinion, and assure them that my beliefs are not like anyone else's. Feels pretty good to jump out of that pigeon hole.
So, as someone who enjoys obliterating stereotypes, I equally enjoy being exposed to things that I have predisposed opinions on, or a lack of knowledge about, or little experience with. These last few months have definitely contained a whole host of these situations, and without going into specifics, I've never felt more broadly educated, or more wildly uncertain about what love/relationship path I'm on. Or which one to take, for that matter.
Honestly, more now than ever before, am I not certain about anything I thought I was certain about. There is no pattern (there is no spoon!), there isn't a straight line, and there isn't anything predictable about whatever the hell it is we're doing. If nothing else, the exposure to these new situations has gifted me with a hefty dose of tolerance, as well as the gift of the experience itself.
