So just today morning I was scrolling through Instagram, right? Saw this colorful post with some weird word I couldn’t even pronounce – “ambiamorous”. Made me scratch my head. Went straight to Google like, “What the heck even is this?”
Typed it in, hit enter. Boom. First few links looked super academic, felt like reading a college textbook. Closed those tabs fast. Finally landed on a forum where someone explained it almost normally. Basically? Means someone who digs being in multiple relationships at the same time – whether those relationships involve just one person (polyamory) or more than one person (monogamy). Wild. Had no clue a word like that existed.
My First Hand Encounter With The Whole Mess
This got me remembering stuff. Couple years back, met this super cool person through hiking. We vibed, started dating. Felt kinda… standard, I guess? Then suddenly they start talking about being “open”. Not gonna lie, it threw me. My brain went:
- “Wait, does that mean they wanna date others?”
- “Am I not good enough?”
- “Is this even dating anymore?”
Felt totally lost. We tried talking, but it was like banging my head against a wall. Eventually fizzled out. Looking back now? That whole confusing situation might’ve been somebody feeling ambiamorous! Makes way more sense through that lens. Wish I knew the damn term then.
Trying to Wrap My Head Around It
After finally figuring out what ambiamorous actually meant, I tried imagining it. Picture this:
- Feeling super happy and settled in a serious, committed thing with one partner.
- But also genuinely digging the freedom and connections that come from seeing multiple people casually.
- And like… shifting between those setups feels totally fine and natural.
That took some heavy-duty brain stretching. Kept thinking, “How can someone flip between those so easily?” It clashes big time with what most of us are drilled to believe.
Curiosity got the better of me. Reached out to a pal working at a therapy place focusing on non-traditional relationships. Even they said ambiamory often gets tangled up with other stuff, especially polyamory. It’s a newer concept for many.
Why Trying to Understand Matters
Honestly? It all boils down to this tiny word: respect. Weird words like “ambiamorous” popping up? It just means people are figuring out new ways to connect, ways that might look totally different from what’s common. Labeling it isn’t about fitting folks into boxes. It’s about giving people the freaking vocabulary to explain their own reality.
Think back to that hiking relationship. Total communication meltdown. If they had known the word “ambiamorous” and I had understood it? Maybe it wouldn’t have blown up so messy. Understanding these concepts makes talking about love and commitment way, way easier.
So yeah, learned something major today. Words matter. They open doors to understanding people living outside the default settings.