We’re happy you reached our blog! We were raised in pretty standard, middle class homes, with traditional values regarding diet, relationships, marriages, parenting, sex and religion. Several years back, a few events transpired that forced us to take a look at the way we were living. Our relationship was struggling, our daughter was born, and after being shot several times, Jason was medically retired from his career. The future was uncertain, it felt like the odds were stacked against us and we were at a crossroads. Suddenly the direction of our lives felt very uncertain, all the plans we had for our future were uprooted.
With our lives turned upside down, and no real direction, we decided to hit the reset button and start fresh. To allow our old selves to die and be reborn like a rising phoenix. Rather than dwelling on the negative, we saw life was giving us an opportunity to start over. First we began to question the way our minds have been programmed. We wondered if we were living and practicing the beliefs we wanted for ourselves. After all, we became responsible for another life, one that would depend on us for guidance and direction on all things. Not just her physical well-being, but her spirituality, the foundation of her beliefs, and how to live a good and healthy life. We felt the weight of knowing so much of her personality, intelligence, and core beliefs would be influenced by our wisdom. No pressure at all right? Just the responsibility of a human being’s soul.
After taking a look inward, it became apparent we were living in a story that was authored by the principles of others and it left an unsettled feeling inside. Little by little, we decided to take a closer look at the beliefs we had been taught in order to seek our own truths. We discovered we disagreed with many of the tenets we were taught, the very tenets we were repeating in our own lives and teaching our daughter. We began diving deep into all areas of our life together such as our relationship dynamic, parenting, diet, religious beliefs and began making big changes.
First, we began exploring the idea of changing our relationship dynamic. Discovering how to effectively communicate was at the core of this change. We learned many things about one another and the desires in our hearts. We began considering the idea of having an open marriage. There are many titles meaning many different things as it relates to an open marriage. Titles such as swinger, polyamory, ethical non-monogamy, open relationship, etc. all seemed to carry a different perspective and were interpreted differently by the people using them. Through our journey, we’ve identified more with some titles than others but it’s been a constant change as we grew. We evolved to a space free of ego, jealousy, and possession over one another and embraced compersion, love, and most importantly radically honest communication. Now, though we do use titles such as open marriage to converse with others about our dynamic that aren’t familiar, we prefer to say we have an honest relationship.
We dove into our health and the way we eat. Not just the nourishment to our bodies, but also the overall global impact we were making as well as considering the ethics and moral decisions behind them. We weren’t raised to consider these things, we never stopped to consider a bigger picture, and perpetuated behavior that was learned through our upbringing. Once we unplugged from what we were taught, and sought our own wisdom in as it relates to diet, we found a vegan lifestyle to be more in line with our beliefs. A plant based diet is healthier, leaves less of a carbon footprint, and doesn’t involve killing or abusing animals. Armed with that knowledge, the choice seemed obvious, not just for our lives but also Bryn’s.
Religion versus spirituality was another major area of our lives that needed an overhaul. We had been followers our entire lives, living by the rules and ideologies that were perpetuated on us. Again, our actions did not align with our beliefs and we were forced to look inward. We put a lot of thought behind what and how we are educating our daughter. We held onto the tenets that resonated in our core, and abandoned those that felt contradictory and hypocritical. This is not to say we had a bad upbringing, we have very loving families, and though neither of us were wealthy, we had parents that loved us and wanted the best for us. They always said they hoped we would take what they taught us and improve on it, and that’s what we aim to do.
“Maverick” is defined as an unorthodox or independent minded person and seemed a fitting pseudonym for this endeavor, we like to consider ourselves “out of the box” thinkers. We do our best to view all things with an open mind and not limit ourselves by cultural conditioning, society’s dogma, or the narratives already written. The premise of our blog is designed around this guiding principle. We enjoy playing devils advocate and seeing opposing perspectives of any subject before deciding what our convictions are. In a nutshell, we don’t allow society to dictate the way we live, we seek our own truths.
Since undergoing this major life overhaul, we’ve been on a growth trajectory for the past several years that surpasses any other point in our lives. We’re more present, grateful, and happy than ever and hope to share some of our views in effort to generate discussion in your own homes. We hope to inspire conversation and dialogue for others also taking a look inward. Is an open marriage feasible? Does polyamory work? Why are vegans so passionate about their food choice? Is a plant based diet really healthier? How does religion intersect with the feelings in my heart when they seem contradictory? How can I spice up a stagnant sex life with my partner? If you’re asking yourself questions like this, congratulations, you’re just around the corner from some amazing change, all it takes is putting action to thought.
We’re the couple next door, just another suburban mom and dad with an adoring daughter living in a comfortable middle class home. We’re as transparent with everyone else as we are one another and we’re here to share our perspective in hopes to inspire others to do the same and live freely. So follow along and send us your thoughts, we’re almost impossible to offend and always happy to share.