AisleDash

From an interview in a local Ottawa paper come these tips for happy relationships:

1. Know yourself, love yourself, and be happy alone. The idea is basic: if you're happy alone, the choices you make for your relationships will be based on strength, not desperation or neediness. No one likes a clinging, needy partner. You'll be happier in a relationship when you can be happy without one.

2. Communicate more, and more honestly. We all know the truisms: relationships take communication; communication is work. Take every opportunity to get better, to be more honest with yourself and with your partner.
3. Go for content, not form. In other words, it doesn't matter what it looks like on the outside. It doesn't matter what your friends think or what your family thinks -- if your relationship works for you, it's a good relationship.

Where do these excellent rules come from? Andrea Zanin's "10 Realistic Rules for Good Non-Monogamous Relationships." Surprised? Why be? Your standard two-party, monogamous marriage is complicated enough. Add another party (or more) and it stands to reason it will require even more care and feeding. Rules for married from the non-monogamous. You gotta appreciate the irony.