one year later (2023)

When my girlfriend revealed to me, in tears, on the first day of our vacation a year ago, that she desired an open relationship, something inside me broke. Shocked and afraid of losing her, I agreed. What followed was an emotional rollercoaster, one of the worst episodes of my life. Marked by ego, envy, and jealousy, I found solace only in numbness and other partners. As I got used to the idea, she confessed to having fallen in love with someone else. She chose against him, but we still parted ways. It was important and the right thing to do. We needed distance and time to process what had happened. When we found our way back to each other, we saw that our open relationship was merely a cry for help for the lightness we were missing. This is a reflection on the year, a journey back to us.