thoughts on relationships

Just been watching this week's Trannystar Galactica episode from Diana. Such a sweet person. (In case you're not familiar with TG and are confused, she presents male for work and on that vlog, but the name indicates to me I should use female pronouns, so that's how I'm rolling with it.)

The topic was Valentine's Day and relationships in general. She brought up her (previous) three rules for a relationship: no lies, no violence, no disrespect. At some point that seemed too negative, so she changed it to love, honesty, respect. It seemed like an interesting question to raise.

If you had to sum up your philosophy on relationships in three pithy dot points, what would they be?

For me (and I'm writing this on the fly, so it might not be definitive):

~ no mind games (emotional manipulation = dealbreaker)

~ friends as well as lovers (friends are more accepting and in the end it's a stronger bond. Love based on friendship can weather much bigger storms and makes the smooth sailing more beautiful)

~ don't fear baggage, but don't be owned by it either (we all have it; it makes us real people. Just remember we retain the ability to choose, no matter what)

Adding explanation made those a bit less pithy, but at least you know what I mean now.

I've been reasonably lucky in my life with relationships. For the most part they've been good and ended amicably. It's been a long time since I was in love, but I choose to be hopeful about that. Most days. :)

By the way, in case you watch Diana's video, this is the Indigo Girls song she mentions. It's great.