The World Polyamory Association's Southern California Conference, LOVING BEYOND THE MATRIX, will be at Aliso Creek Inn (October 22-24, 2004) in Laguna Beach, 1 hour south of Los Angeles. The Laguna poly conference includes interactive workshops on pair bonding, romantic love, multiple-partner sexuality and choreographing the dance of poly loving. There will be panel discussions, jealousy management experiments, opportunities for networking, a wild party and a half-day experience of living compersion–empathy for others' love-joy.  Participants will move from experience to experience together, in plenary sessions orchestrated to build community. Presenters include Leanna Wolfe, Sasha and Janet Kira Lessin, Harold Kornylak, Les Nuckles, Dave Doleshal, Ed Seykota, Will Jones, Anastas Harris, Steven Vogue, Dawn & Akien and more (to be announced).  Sophia Songhealer provides music and guides a tantra ceremony.   

The theme of this conference is Loving Beyond the Matrix.  What does it mean to love beyond the matrix?  To step outside the box and be authentic and real? To express one’s true desires, with no hesitation or restrictions? With childlike innocence, to love with total abandon, full intensity and unbounded joy as you did when you first opened your eyes and believed that all was good?

Who told you how you loved was wrong? Who chided you with scorn and disgust and directed you, this is the way love is and has to be? Who shamed you and defined you, sculpted you and molded you, melted you and condensed you till you looked the way they wanted you to look, felt the feelings that they allowed you to feel, expressed the way they wanted you to express including using the voice, tone and fashion they permitted?

And when did you buy into it? Sure there were a series of rules, regulations and shoulds. you once upon a time recognized them as outside of yourself. But when did you internalize them and begin to believe their voices where your own?

And when did you buy into it? Sure there were a series of rules, regulations and shoulds. you once upon a time recognized them as outside of yourself. But when did you internalize them and begin to believe their voices where your own?

Or have you rejected them? Or do you think you’ve overcome them but still find yourself subconsciously, involuntarily responding to stimulus.

How can we move to love beyond the matrix, the conventional reality that somehow we all agree by consensus, conformity and fear to be what’s real?

We explore these options at the 2004 Southwest Regional Polyamory Conference, Loving Beyond the Matrix. Join us in Laguna Beach on October 22-23, 2004 as we create new paradigms to re-shape the world.

Steven Vogue and Anastas Harris present the Laguna Beach, 2004 Post-Conference: 
Living Compersion: An Experiential and Tantric Workshop