I recently read a post on Fetlife about people who are constantly in need of NRE (new relationship energy), and how they get addicted to the cycle of brain chemicals just like a person addicted to a drug might do.

At this point, I’ve been in two relationships for a little over two years and one for about a year and a third, and I still feel NRE in all of them. I’m still delighted to see them; my day still brightens up when I hear from them; I still want to text them good morning, and good night, and it never feels like a chore. Isn’t NRE supposed to wear off at some point? Shouldn’t it become “old relationship energy”, so to speak?

In thinking about my most recent relationships prior to the ones I’m in, the NRE only lasted this long in one of them, and I ended up marrying that person. Which isn’t to say I plan to marry any of my current partners — I’m pretty sure none of them are interested in marriage either, and I don’t feel a pressing need to go down that road for a third time — but the NRE in that relationship lasted for three or four years, and only started going away when we stopped doing the things that brought us together in the first place. I guess that means I’d better not stop spanking any of my partners, because spanking is a foundational part of all three relationships, and I want them to continue. Indefinitely, if possible.

Although I will say this: new relationships can be fun because you can tell all your best stories to a new person who’s never heard them before. As someone who’s forgetful and can’t always remember what stories he told whom, having a blank slate is always nice.