February 28th is Metamour Day!
A metamour (meta, for short) is term from polyamory and ethical non-monogamy for a partner of your partner (i.e. your husband's girlfriend, my lover's spouse, their FWB's other FWB, etc.). A group of people involved in an intertangled series of relationships is called a polycule (like a molecule, but polyamory style 😂). Polycules often act as extended chosen families of people who love and support each other in different ways.
In the polyam/ENM community, metamours can vary in their degree of interaction from just knowing about each other but having no interaction ("Parallel Polyamory") to hanging out occasionally for special events ("Garden Party Polyamory"), to regular casual interactions like family dinners ("Kitchen Table Polyamory"), to fully being friends or even romantically or sexually involved as well. Having a good relationship with one's metas is often a cherished and necessary part of practicing polyamory and ethical non-monogamy. Metas often find commonality in sharing love for their mutual partner and in every day life, from the mundane tasks of scheduling to shared family/polycule celebrations.
Compersion is also an important concept between partners and metas. Compersion is experiencing vicarious joy from your partner's happiness with their other partners. While it doesn't come naturally to everyone and jealousy can still be a struggle, compersion can be an amazing form of empathy and expression of love and appreciation within a polycule.
February 28th was picked as Metamour Day as it is 2x14 (Valentine's Day) - twice the love!
To all the other super metas out there - thanks for being awesome and I wish you all the compersion and love you can receive!