25 First Dates

Agreeing to be exclusive with someone, while thinking in the back of your mind that you’ll just break up if things don’t work out, is not commitment.

When a relationship starts with, “This isn’t going to be a thing, right?” and then progresses to, “I just don’t see myself being with one person forever,” as ours did, it doesn’t really matter how long you are together. You never really feel stable. There were wonderful, dizzy times when we were perfectly coordinated, and there were others where I felt adrift on my own like a synchronized swimmer who never learned the routine.

I’ve always felt it’s ridiculous to say, of any of the females in my life: You’re my friend, you’re my wife, you’re my girlfriend, you’re my co-worker. This is your box, and you’re not allowed to stray outside of it. I gave that (monogamy) up a long time ago. Those rules don’t apply anymore.