How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..

For a while I have been asking myself the question: "Is it possible to be in love with more than one person?" There has been a war in my mind for a time now, a constant battle of right and wrong, and what is acceptable in society's eyes. I dug within the contours of my often complex mind, spun circles and webs, dreamed of the answers, danced around the possibilities of what they could be, and finally derived an answer using what resonated with me, and what I felt was right. My resources are reliable, trusted and acceptable in the eyes of many all over the universe, and I feel that my conclusion to this question, that I think sits in the back of a numerous amount of people's mind, is sensible, plain and simple.

You see, I have six shades of love in my life. Funny enough, in Greek Mythology, there are six different types of love:

Eros:          

An intimate/ erotic love involving tremendous passion, physical attraction and emotional intensity

Agape:       

Sacrificial or altruistic love - placing a loved one's welfare before one's own, and giving without asking anything in return

Storge:       

Love as friendship and companionship with very little intimacy

Pragma:      

A practical or logical love where someone actively searches for desired attributes in a partner

Ludus:        

A game-playing love

Mania:        

Also known as the troubled love. It is a jealous, obsessive, and dependant love with great intensity, some intimacy and many psychological symptoms

So.............. How do I love thee? Well, let me count the ways!

I am in love with six different men. Six men, all affecting me differently, and all six that I cannot forget. Each playing a different role in my life, and contributing to my life in different ways. Not all of them have been sexual partners, but all of them have different qualities, and consume different parts of me. You may find me strange to be in love with so many people, and modern society condones only one love in one's life but who are they to judge, where many other societies along with Greek Mythology believes and recognizes that multiple types exist. Dr. Helen Fisher wrote: "..humans are neurologically able to love more than one person at a time", and I, along with many others, am proof of that statement.

Perhaps the reason for my being in love with the 'six' is to help find myself, and identify who I am in the 'six'. After all, don't we grow as people from the relationships we are in? I may be unconsciously searching for something within myself. I want to grow from each relationship, and take a piece of each of them with me, and at the same time help each of the 'six' grow within themselves as well. But, if ever I had to choose between them, I would be torn. I would not be able to choose which man is the better man, as each do not possess all the qualities of the other, that has drawn me to them. Each man is perfect in his own right, and each man is beautifully their own person. I do not have the right to choose between them.This leads me to ask the question: "Is there ONE love above all the rest?" As the saying goes:

"Love is living, and therefore growing; love is growing and therefore expanding; there is no limit to the expansion of love, for its source is divine, thus its expansion is perfect" - Hazrat Inayat Khan - The Sufi Message

So I am undoubtedly, and willingly in love with six great men, six unique souls that each play a different, yet truly beautiful role in my life, and I will go on about my ways, loving each of them truly, and wholly.



(Side Note: I am not in a relationship with any of these men)