Marriage to us was never about declaring mutual exclusivity. It was about declaring our love for each other and intent to keep each other around in some capacity for life.

My experience of love may not be identical to yours or someone else's. To me, confining my partner into monogamy because of societal expectations isn't an act of love.

I enjoy that jealousy and fear of cheating just don't really happen in my marriage. Even the best monogamous couples can worry about the possibility of cheating occurring. That's not an issue for us. And it may sound strange, but because I love my husband I want him to be with the best person he can in life. If that turns out to be someone other than me, then I would want him to be able to explore that.

Incidentally, this goes both ways. I have been on dates with people and I'm starting to consider dating his girlfriend as well. It's not a situation where I some lonely chick with no self esteem so I let my husband run rampant. It's just that marriage means something different to us than it does to most people. We value freedom and spontaneous possibility over comfort and familiarity.