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As the general public becomes more aware about the existence of polyamory, we in The Polyamory Movement are in desperate need of role models and public figures.

When I was promoting my "Let's Get Stuff Done" Con, one of my friends took my promo copy and forwarded it to a couple of local lists.  Apparently drama ensued as some of the people balked at the notion of developing "leaders" within polyamory groups, or within the movement at large.  On another list that I'm involved with, a similar story unfolded where someone who was a role model within her own community shunned the label of "leader". I'm interested in knowing why that is, especially since I strongly believe that poly people need to have community leaders if we're going to take our "movement" to the next level. This led me to start writing down my thoughts on how changing the status quo would benefit poly people as a whole, even though most poly people choose not to participate. I also started thinking about the current organizing efforts, and why progression towards our goals as a movement have been so damn slow. P.S.: If you are easily offended by anything that challenges or criticizes the status-quo, please come back around August 30th. At that time, I will post the finale of this series, which outlines recommended steps on how to be a better leader. Additional Disclaimer: This series is the result of conversations that I've had with fellow poly leaders, mixed with my own thoughts, experiences, and observations. While it seems that a lot of us have similar experiences and thoughts, these writings do not represent the beliefs of poly leaders as a whole.  These writings are not meant to target specific individuals or organizations, but instead show how "the system" is defunct and needs a lot of TLC and fixing.

Recently, Miss Polyamory interviewed Samatha Fraser, the author of the blog (and hopefully upcoming book): Not Your Mother's Playground. You can listen to the interview podcast here. Not Your Mother's Playground is Samantha's diary about open relationships.

For the last chapter in this series, I am going to move beyond the basic concept of an "open relationship" to that of a family of choice that shares expenses and responsibilites.  The members of your family can choose to live within the same household, or they can live in different physical locations (depending on space issues). In a traditional family arrangement, the couple has a limited amount of resources available to take care of household obligations. One or both members need to earn an income in order to maintain their lifestyle.  The need for income and financial stability may cause either partner to work in a job that may not be the best fit for them. In addition, the birth of children not only bring joy but also additional needs upon the household, most significantly that of constant supervision and care.

[caption id="attachment_312" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Original photo by Zvon @ stock.XCHNG"][/caption] Your group is ready to set forth on your journey. By now, you should have your compass (vision) and map (mission).  At this point, you hit a major stumbling block - which route do you take? One member mentions taking the paved road, another wants the group to cross the river, and the third wants to travel through the woods.  Between those options and the mountain path you are aware of, there's at least four options that you can take.  In addition to figuring out how to get to your destination, you realize there are other important decisions to be made: