Poly People

Hi.
  My name is Crystal, and I'm a polyamorous pansexual.  I have a boyfriend who I have dated for going on 7 years now, and we see other people when we choose.  Even though we are bi-coastal(He is still in Pennsylania) we talk almost every day, and whenever one of us is interested in seeing someone, or has gone out and had sexy time, we talk about it.  We are as honest with each other as we are with ourselves; sometimes moreso.  Our relationship works for us and makes us happy.

 * * * * *

Of course that's not all there is to this.  My boyfriend and I started dating years ago just as I was moving to Philadelphia to start working for my friend's movie production.  He was the first one to suggest that we maintain an open relationship, citing that he 'didn't want to stand in my way for anything.'  Years later and I'm still not convinced I understand what he meant, but so far, so good...
We've maintained poly/open relationship status for years, although I'm the only one actually dating.  The truth is that while we love each other, we know we're not compatible in the long run; we both want very different things out of life in almost every category.  if he met a lovely lady or dude who met his needs and decided that the romantic aspect of our relationship had to end because of it, I would be sad to lose that part of our relationship, but overall happy that he had found someone who could truly meet his needs.

To most people, this sounds weird.  "Why wouldn't you want to be with him if you love him?  How can you stand the thought of someone you care about being with other people? et cetera, et cetera..."

The truth is that I am perfectly comfortable with the people I love loving other people, so long as we are all open and honest about it.  I expect a certain level of attention, depending on the depth of our relationship, and it can be insanely difficult to plan out dates and such, especially when you're visiting from across the country and want to see all of your friends and lovers, but talking through the awkward feelings and processing our emotions helps a LOT.

It's also funny because a lot of the polyamorous people I meet here(and there are WAY more in the Bay area than back home) have very specific parameters for polyamory; such as the idea that you have to be in at least two "serious" relationships to qualify. I'm not going for any gold stars here, so I find anyone else's attempts to classify my relationship  as cute.  

I'm living the best life I can figure at this point.  I love my boyfriend and my secondary partners, and I know we will do the best we can do for each other, no matter what.