School's back in!

VP101 got off to a great fall start this month with several events and a new group at UVic campus, plus a stimulating discussion at Camas last night.

Poly 101 on Campus is a discussion group on ethical non-monogamy (having multiple partners and being honest about it).

We are (hurray!) an official UVic club, but anyone who's interested (need not be a UVic student) can stop by or email us (poly101oncampus@gmail.com) to get on the mailing list.



Members of VP101 attended a debate at UVic campus earlier this week; the topic:  "Is monogamy natural?".  While the debate itself was, unsurprisingly, academic, it did provide some useful media coverage for the idea that non-monogamous feelings are also "not unnatural" and even "ok".  Yay, academia!  It was fun to see the big student turnout (people sitting in the aisles and being turned away at the door) and hearing some very thoughtful questions from the audience.  All in all, a fun event and one that I hope presages more discussions about non-monogamy in the future.


Finally, last night's monthly poly discussion, on the topic, "Being Single and Poly", was one of our most successful to date.  I was thrilled to see a number of students from Poly 101 on Campus in attendance, as well as some old friends from the early days of VP101.  After a very cool check-in, we divided into three groups of about ten people each to discuss how being single and being poly can be complimentary, sometimes confusing, and often rewarding.  


One group concentrated on meticulously defining "single" -- with the help of a thesaurus, no less.  They won the prize for most academic discussion, and we all appreciated the terms they came up with, the favourite being "independent".  


The other groups discussed personal experiences of being poly in various states of single-ness (there are more than you might realize at first glance), including having partners but living alone, being a secondary, and taking breaks from relationships.  It was generally agreed that a polyamorous relationship style can offer the the best of both worlds, allowing people the opportunity for space, personal growth and committed, partnered companionship all at the same time.  Yep, we love having our cake and eating it, too!   


Many thanks to everyone who came out to the discussion and I hope to see more of you in the months to come!