Welcome, Jessica!

Our guest this week is Jessica Esfandiary, a dynamic writer, speaker, and podcast host whose expertise lies in the realm of open relationships and how the principles of these types of connections can be applied to everyday life. She is also the host of the Open Late podcast. Jessica helps us answer some listener questions, using her insight and experience.

Some of the questions we tackle today include:

• “Do you have any advice for not feeling bad about enjoying something without your partner? Especially when they're feeling bad and you feel partially responsible for their happiness.”

• “What advice or cautions would you give for established and practicing poly people about dating newbie poly people?”

• “Is it possible for a monogamous person to somehow fool themselves into believing they are open to polyamory? Is it possible to fool oneself for a really long time or is that just imposter syndrome?”

• “I am no longer feeling comfortable calling myself ENM. Don’t get me wrong, I love the “Ethical” bit, but I just don’t feel non-monogamous is the right term. It started about a year ago when I read, of all things, the Wikipedia page on Monogamy. It was then I realized how little I understood all the types of monogamy there is and how confusing it has been for me when someone expects, say social monogamy but still are dating non-monogamous. Or, in my case, I am sexually monogamous but not socially monogamous (I have my own house and finances). What term do any of you use when you are only partially non-monogamous?”

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