277. Understanding myself and my submission

I think if my blog has one consistent lesson, it is this:

Don’t suggest your husband spank you as you may get what you asked for. 

Ha!  No, that’s not it.  It’s this:

Don’t chew ice.

Okay, not that one either, although if the consequences are “chilling” enough, you might not ever chew ice again.   

Alright, maybe the lesson isn’t a lesson, but a question. 

That question is  —  It is more fruitful to understand our emotions and actions than to hate, ridicule, or ignore them?

Aha!  Yes, that’s it!  And maybe there should be a second part to that sentence of, “… and whether you understand them, hate them, or ignore them, a good spanking can cure what ails you.”   LOL!

IT’S ESOTERIC RAMBLE TIME
It’s been a while since I’ve dropped some Jenny-style psycho-babble.   I’ll do my best to try and make this a coherent as possible, as I have a lot of disparate thoughts rolling around my head.  

I was doing some thinking as I am prone to do, trying to come up with one idea or theme that I felt was the predominant thread in my blog.  Sure, it is a blog about Domestic Discipline, but I feel a consistent theme I’ve gone back to time and time again is that we should take the time to understand our emotions and actions.

Another word for this can be self-awareness, but this word can be tricky.  Your awareness of yourself is always limited.  It is limited by, well. . . by your awareness of yourself.  While you can do things to be more aware – complete awareness can not exist (any Buddhist’s out there may respectfully disagree).   To me, what can exist is a better understanding of yourself.  This becomes a constant journey and not a final destination of 100% self-awareness.

And if you are a long time reader, I will flunk you now and send you to the principals office if you can’t answer the question, “And how does one better understand themselves?   It’s all about the “V'” word –  vulnerability.   

WHAT SELF AWARENESS MEANS TO ME
I don’t want to repeat myself as there are probably a dozen posts dedicated to the “V” word and a dozen others that touch on it.  (Beavis:  “Aa-huh. . . she said touch the V.”)   If you need a refresher, here’s one post I often find myself referring back to — Post 67.

Vulnerability is only the catalyst.  It is not the end-all, be-all.  It is the catalyst that helps me increase my self-awareness.  And if you buy my definition of self-awareness as being  a “better understanding of oneself,” then vulnerability allows me to better understand myself.

This begs the question, “What is it about myself that I am trying to understand?”   

I believe it comes down to me trying to answer this question, “What is giving rise to the different feelings I am having?”   I’ve always been highly self reflective, but I have only been fully honest in my reflection for the last 3-4 years.   It can be very difficult as the things that give rise to your feelings can be highly complex and a combination of external influences and things that are just from our own nature.   Navigating that complexity is made even harder due to the many built in bias’ we all have. 

Here’s a great article on bias.   While not tied to self-awareness, it gives a great lesson on the bias’ we all have.   The point this article helps make is that if you don’t take time to really question yourself, your motives, your feelings, your reactions, you likely will never get to the root of what gave rise to them.  You will discount/ignore any “bad” or unhealthy motivations and assume only the “good” or positive motivations applied to you. Thus transformation/growth is not possible, and ultimately happiness and fulfillment will allude you.  

My drive to try and understand myself comes from a perspective of boiling life down to two choices:

1. Understand your emotions and let that understanding be transformative and manifest themselves in positive ways. 
2. Suffer your emotions – hate them, ridicule them, or ignore them, and let them manifest themselves in negative ways.     

And recently I added a third part to this:

3. Understand that #1 and #2 can also apply to those you allow into your life re “understand their emotions or suffer their emotions.” 

If you strive for #1 as I do, keep in mind that if you have done #2 for too long, you may need professional help to break out of it.  That’s the core of what a psychologist and psychiatrist does – it is about helping you understand your emotions.  Doing so requires you to be honest (vulnerable) to them and pour out all your “truths” to them.  Or, you can just be vulnerable to your significant other and let them spank you.  lol

Thus, I am compelled to try and understand my thoughts and emotions behind Active submission vs Passive submission which I wrote about in Post 275.

ACTIVE SUBMISSION?
I think I used the word “Active” because up until recently, practically all my submissive acts were caused by me.  The motivation of those acts were borne in me.  They flowed from within me, and flowed out of me. 

PASSIVE SUBMISSION?
Contrast that with “Passive.”   That is where I find my submissive acts are becoming only partially from me or even not all from me.  That is, they are requirements of Mike to which I am willing to meet.

Both are worthy submissive acts.  Both are fulfilling.  One is not better than the other.  They are like water from a different well.   There is no substantial reason they are different.  But emotions are typically not reasonable.  It is in the emotions where you find the difference.   

If  you are a submissive, it doesn’t matter if you more closely identify as Active vs Passive.  There is no right or wrong way, or even an absolute.  You can be half-and-half, or lean a little, or completely, one way or the other.  It isn’t about what I have come to understand about my emotions.  It is about what you discover when you come to understand yours.   Of course, this is my blog so I will talk about what I’ve come to understand fro mine.

POWER EXCHANGE IS ABHORRENT?
I’ve written that I am finding passive submission is as equally rewarding as active.  As I am beginning to understand it better, the truth is, at least for now, it isn’t!    Passive submission is MORE rewarding to me.  I think the reason has to do with power, and as a submissive, I thrive in giving up power to my husband.

As humans, I think we are wired to derive joy from power.  It’s what makes wanting to be submissive so counter-culture (Post 27. Jenny’s Doctrine of Submission).   It doesn’t have to be overwhelming power, unless you are an egotistical, unstable, self-absorbed narcissist, but enough about Trump.  It can be as simple as the power of persuasion. Think of the little shot of joy we all get when someone “likes” a post.  It’s like, yeah, at a minimum, I persuaded them to consider what I had to say.   

Whatever it is, it is human nature to derive joy from power.   If you agree, then the antithesis of this is that there is sadness when power is diminished.  Thus, if we lose influence, lose certain controls, it is human nature to become sad.

Therefore — now stick with me — whatever increases our power makes us happy and we value those things as being “good.”  And whatever decreases our power make us sad and we value those things as being “bad.”   

Thus – a person who voluntarily gives up power must be sad, bad, and violating  human nature.   It is only natural to conclude that Domestic Discipline or a Dominant/submissive relationship is abhorrent.   

But for a submissive, there is no joy in retaining and demonstrating power.  It’s more clear said in the positive  — for a submissive, there is joy when power is given away. 

Clearly a submissive defies our natural instinct to enjoy power.   I find it odd that society looks down upon someone who gives up so much power, and looks up to someone who craves total power – even abusing that power along the way.   It is the power-hungry who destroy lives, oppress and harm people for inhumane reason simply because they can.  Far from submissives being “abhorrent,” there is something wrong with those who derive all their joy from power…and that goes for people who idolize (and vote) those that do so.  Deplorables indeed!  I digress. 

Like most things, this is not an absolute.  It is not a choice between “all powerful” and “completely powerless.”   I do not seek to be completely powerless.  I have a voice and I have influence over Mike.  But by evolving from my active submission to my passive submission, I have given up more power.  And that was the final step in reaching the level of submission I was looking for.   

IN CONCLUSION
I’ve been fulfilled each step of our DD journey.  And every step was critical to allowing me to reach this destination point in my journey.  I’ve stated before that when we started, I would have never accepted the level of submission I was at a year into our DD, or two years into it, or now, three-and-a-half years into it. 

I’ve been fortunate in that it seems like I have always had the level of submission that I needed at the time. I believe it is because I remained vulnerable to Mike, and he to me, and we’ve cherished being completely open and honest with each other and most importantly, with ourselves.  It’s about taking time to reflect and trying our best to understand our emotions and actions, and the emotions and actions of each other, rather than hate, ridicule, or ignore them.  

Here’s a quote I found that connects the importance of honesty in D/s.  It is from Byron Cane: 

D/s is a true partnership between equals who find things they both enjoy in a loving, respectful and most importantly, honest relationship with full knowledge, consent and trust.

Next: 278. Spanksome before you threesome

246. Subconsciousness of Wrong

So here’s something different.  Let’s talk about discipline!  It’s been awhile since I’ve written about being disciplined.  I don’t have any epic submissive fails or extended or dramatic punishments to share.  So I’ll just share a quick fire list of some things.   Basically like I did on 213. Speedy Spanking Summations. 

SMELLS LIKE JENS SPIRIT
Before I get into the discipline, here’s another Jenny blog throwback.  I good old fashion esoteric rant, Jenny style. 

I am keenly aware that my reaction to my discipline is different now.  I think it took our first two years of DD before I got significantly down the road of truly accepting discipline.  And it wasn’t until perhaps the start of this year that I think I fully got to the end of that road and fully accepted it. 

There were parts of me that still were not 100% comfortable with it.  Why did I need it?  Why is it so effective?  Why wasn’t I strong enough to be the wife, mother, and person I wanted to be without relying on my husband’s discipline?   

When I think (and read) back through my discipline experiences, I can tell I spent a lot of time trying to deconstruct what certain punishments meant – about me, about Mike, about our relationship.  I always concluded in one way or another that my disciplining brought me fulfillment, joy, pleasure (perhaps not in the moment) and a oneness with Mike.   While I have always appreciated my DD, I only recently accepted that feeling of appreciation.      

I accept DD as right for me –  unapologetically and unashamed.  And I don’t mean that in an outward sense.  Obviously if you read my posts, I’ve never outwardly felt i needed to apologize or feel ashamed for adopting DD. . . but inwardly? For a long time, especially early on, I felt I needed to apologize to my old self (that self empowered woman who would never cower to any man, especially her husband). 

And as for shame, I don’t mean it in the context of humiliation.  I never felt humiliated (humbled, yes).  The shame I needed to overcome was more about what I can only think to call a subconsciousness of wrong.  Like, I had this “thing” that I couldn’t really identify but now, with the benefit of hindsight, I can see it.  I didn’t know it at the time, but there was this part of me trying to ask myself if all of this is just wrong for me and I am just too naive, insecure, blind, ..okay, even stupid… to realize it.   

It was the the tension of this feeling that influenced my behavior.  It made it easier for me to discount a rule, or conveniently forget an obligation.  This added to the fact I was still adjusting to life as a submissive.  Not every fail was due to some subconscious urge to rebel.  But clearly, the part of me that hadn’t accepted submission wasn’t making adhering to my rules any easier. 

DISCIPLINE NIRVANA
Slowly I started to lose the feelings of needing to apologize or feel shameful towards myself. It probably took two years for the ball to get rolling on losing those things.  And now, I realize, they are gone.   I think our October contract was the impetus for the final purge of those feelings.  Coupled with the discipline I got at the start of the year, and coming out to our family about Kayla and to some degree about my submission – and whammo  – those feelings were replaced with a subconsciousness of right, of joy, of fulfillment. 

Whatever the final straw, all I know is now when I am disciplined, there is no suffering nor sense of self.  I am not talking about physical pain. I am talking about the emotional uneasiness that came with the need to apologize to myself and deal with that subconsciousness of wrong.  And when there is no suffering nor sense of self, well,  Buddism has a name for that.  Nirvana.  (. . . a mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido…  sorry, I can never say the word Nirvana without thinking of that). 

The result is, I simply am not as motivated to write about my spanks and “go esoteric” like I typically do regarding what they mean to me.  I know that is disappointing to you spankos out there, but you know, for you spankos there is navigation on this page to my Discipline archive.  Have fun and bust a nut.  ha.  Is there an equivalent slang for women?   Poon monsoon?  Diddle the Skittle?  Sorry, I didn’t intend to imply a masturbatory predilection amongst spankophiles.  We all know spankos are into such stories for their literary virtue.  I digress!

OUT OF TIME
Well, now look what I did.  I used up this whole post waxing philosphical (is there an opposite of that?  “waning unknowledgeably” perhaps?). Okay, stop it Jen!

I am in such a silly mood!! 

I promise. My next post will share some discipline I’ve received over the last three months or so.   I may even get it up today.  I have it mostly written and then realized it was too long to include here.   If not today, tomorrow.  Hope you enjoyed the post anyway!

Next: 247. Hey, my husband spanks me!

195. In Memoriam

Mike’s mom passed away.  He lost is dad to start this year, and now his mom as the year comes to an end.  It was unexpected with his dad, and while not a complete surprise with his mom, we thought we would still have three or four more months.  

Suffice to say the mood has been somber, and Mike has had much to deal with regarding settling the estate.  It has put a bit of a damper on things.  D/s has sort of been put aside.  Kayla and I continue to serve him, but there is not the same energy or vibe.  He has not had the energy or interest in discipline, not that we’ve given him much in terms of behaviors he would normally need to address.  He dismisses the “minor” things and says, “Please don’t do that again, I really don’t want to deal with that right now.”  That actually hurts more than a spanking.   

We did get to meet Michaud as he attended the funeral and other gatherings.  Although the circumstances were not conducive to really getting to know him,  by all accounts he seems to be a great boyfriend for Kayla.  And yes, they did “consummate” their relationship. 

Things were slowly getting back into a normal routine.  It’s strange but I actually miss being naked most of the day.  I have stayed clothed because our middle son was home several days, and lots of people were coming and going.   And just about the time that was lessening and the bits of the normal routine were returning, Thanksgiving week is  upon us.  So, my naked hiatus and toned down D/s will extend about another week. 

Thanksgiving will be a little less festive, although Mike’s mom gave us all strict orders to have a joyful holiday.  There was a lot of honor, respect, and love in her last week.  Lots of meaningful conversations on what she wanted for everyone once she was gone.  

She had no conflicted thoughts, no panic, no fear.  She just exuded joy in her last weeks and days, and in return, so did others.  Everyone was focused on sharing joy, and on how what we did and said impacted her.  This made for a beautiful farewell.   

That’s how it should be.  That’s how I’d want it to be.  But it had an unintended consequence.  With everyone focused on celebrating her life, on squeezing every ounce of joy from every second that remained, it meant no one was really thinking about her passing.  Once she was gone, it was as if she died unexpectedly.  That crescendo of joy was now just empty silence.    

NEXT: 196.  This, That, and Some Other Stuff

 

 

136. Submitted Wife: Degrading, Unfair, Unhealthy

I can’t go too many posts without writing about my thoughts on submission.  What prompted this one was a discussion with my sisters (See Post 116 re my “coming out” to them).    

By the way, I still refer to my lifestyle as Domestic Discipline, but I recognize it has evolved to be more aligned with a Dominant/submissive lifestyle.  Once you name something, it is hard to change it.  DD is in the name of my blog and I am sticking with it. Oh, back to my sisters…

My sisters continue to ask me a lot of questions and I often am the one soliciting their questions.  I like to hear their thoughts and comments.  I know they will be unfiltered as we have a way of being totally “brutally” honest with each other.  I believe it is because we are all so secure in our sisterly love for each other that we know how to communicate tough issues very well.  We can be critical without condescension, and at no time make each other feel bad.  We share our feelings so that we are better understood and so that we can better understand each other.  So everything we say always has the underpinning of love.

I’ve also shared before (Post 2. The Backstory) that growing up there was a strong sense of “woman empowerment” bestowed on us by our mother.  Being a submissive wife was never in my future as far as my mom was concerned, or my sisters, or even me, until submission found me.  

WHY?
My sisters keep coming back to the same question, “Why?”   It isn’t that they didn’t listen to my answers or that they didn’t believe my answers.  They admit that my answers were touching, heart felt, moving, and well articulated. But still, it’s like, “Can you tell me ‘why’ again?”

The analogy I use is that it is as if they are learning a foreign language and haven’t retained the knowledge to understand it.  And like learning a foreign language, they need repetition.  So I repeat, and I repeat.  I think it is slowly sinking in, but this time I realized I needed to change my approach.    

Understand before being Understood.
I fell back on some of my counseling background and a simple communication axiom of “Seek to understand before being understood.”   In our previous conversation I was providing my sisters with a lot of information, but it was about the things that were important to me, that motivated me, that justified to me why I made the decisions I made.  I finally realized I needed to understand them first.  

I asked them what they thought submission was and what they thought my reasons were.  In those answered, I found the biases that society conditions us with and the loving concerns they had for me because of those preconceived notions.  Thus, I finally understood our conversation needed to be about what D/s WASN’T more than it needed to be about what D/s WAS. 

 In their minds, submission is

• degrading
• unfair
• unhealthy

Their actual list was longer, but I consolidated it into those three themes.

First of all, I agreed with them.  Submission COULD be any or all of those things.  Just like “Love” could spiral into any or all of those things.  The potential for those things should not be dismissed or taken lightly, but the fact is, I believe healthy D/s relations are devoid of those things.  Then we talked about each one.

DEGRADING
In their minds it was degrading to allow myself to be under Mike’s authority.  We then talked about authority in a household setting.  They agreed that in their own relationships there were things that naturally evolved where they defer authority to their husbands, or their husbands to them.  We talked about the process that got them to that point.  That process was full of arguments and conflict and even some lingering resentments that years later could be called to the surface in a moment.  In fact, there were several issues where “authority” was still in dispute and a source of  anger or resentment.  One of my sisters even said, “It still burns me today to think of….”

So I told her, “So, you feel disregarded by your husband about that issue, don’t you?”   She agreed she did.  

“And are there things that you have assumed responsibility for where he may feel disregarded by you?  She agreed that this was very likely the case.

Then I said, let’s look up the definition of what it is when you disregard something that should be taken into account, such as someone’s feelings.  We quickly got to words like contempt and, sure enough, degrade.

To me, the degrading isn’t about the person. She wasn’t degrading her husband, nor he degrading her.  What was being degraded was their happiness and love.  Sure they still loved each other.  The issue didn’t rise to the level that it destroyed their love, but, it still made it less than it could be and provided less peace and fulfillment in their relationship.  To this day, years later, there was lingering resentment.   I told my sister I have absolutely no lingering resentments, nor does Mike.  That’s the power of submission for us.  It allows our love to be the greatest it can be, no pock marks or degradation anywhere. 

One other aspect of “degrading” to them was the notion I was being treated like a child.  Well, I never spanked my kids, nor did my sisters with their kids, so no connection there.  But forget the spanking, yes, Mike is the disciplinarian, much like a parent would be.  I can’t argue that.  His role has some similarities to that of a parent but D/s goes way beyond a parents role in disciplining a child.  Also, I not only fully consent to him being the disciplinarian, but I asked for him to be that.  I’ve found I can better meet my commitments to myself and to him and have greater self control and happiness by submitting to his discipline and deferring to his will.  I don’t find it degrading, I find it uplifting.

I shared with them that accepting his discipline was a journey within our journey.  That is, initially I only accepted it on my terms, explicitly laid out in our contract.  And there would have been nothing wrong with it if it stayed that way, but, I changed and my needs changed.  I wanted more discipline and developed an unquestionable trust in Mike.  To me that is when our dynamic became D/s versus DD.  I am not just subject to his discipline, I am simply and completely “his.”   

UNFAIR
Since we already were looking at definitions, we then took a look at the definition of “unfair.” Basically there are two.  One deals with the principals of justice, the other is in regards to lack of kindness, sensitivity, and thoughtfulness.  It was interesting because one sister was hung up on the principals of justice part of it while the other was hung up on the kindness and thoughtfulness part of it.

Justice, in other words, equality.  D/s isn’t about gender roles. There are D/s relationships where the man is the submissive and there are same-sex D/s relationships.   D/s is not an indictment on women.  It is about the two individuals and what works for them. Gender is something that obviously exists, but doesn’t dictate anything.  Having said that, yes, I’ve observed most D/s relationships have a male Dom.  That simply could be because society has preconditioned too many men such that they would never consider it or would never explore it.  Society more easily accepts a submissive woman. 

I also explained that for me, D/s is about choosing a leader in the relationship.   Granting someone authority to lead you, whether it be a boss, a pastor, a teacher, a doctor, a friend, a spouse, etc., is not a value judgement on someone’s worth.  Allowing yourself to be led is not unjust.  And it is not unjust when I choose to acquiesce to Mike’s leadership, even on things I don’t agree with.

If you do not acquiesce at work, you can be fired.  At church or school?  You can be expelled.  With your doctor?  You can become ill or not get well.  With friends, it is a give and take, and when you give authority to them, you aren’t “less than,” nor when they give you authority are they “less than.”  With spouses, it can be similar to friends, but there is that risk of resentment over time if you feel pressured to acquiesce on things that are important for you to lead.   So let’s agree that leading or following is not a value statement on the person leading or following.  Following doesn’t equate to “less than.”

Then I asked them in situations where both they and their spouse wanted to lead, or neither wanted to, what happened?  Did they feel joy, peace, and composure?   No, they used words like “agitation” and “hostility” to describe how they and their partners feel in those situations.

I asked them if those feelings were really fair?   Is it fair for them to feel hostile towards their loved one, or their loved one towards them?   And again, let’s not look at fairness towards the individual, but fairness towards their love.  They agreed, it was not fair to have their love diminished over such trivial things.  I said I never feel agitation or hostility, nor does Mike towards me.   So how is it that Mike and I are being unfair to each other or unfair to our love?   How is it that a lifestyle that fosters true joy for us ever be considered unfair? 

UNHEALTHY
Other words used were “demoralizing” or “dehumanizing.”  I took on the “dehumanizing” part first.  What is dehumanizing about feeling joy, feeling fulfilled, feeling true bliss?  Is the oneness I have with Mike (Post 30.  I found my Thrill,) dehumanizing?  Just the opposite.  These feelings are the pinnacle of the emotions you want to feel as a human.  How can that be dehumanizing?

As for “demoralizing?”   I am more hopeful than ever regarding my marriage and my life.   I am deeply humbled, but not over some defeat of who I am today, but over the defeat of who I used to be.   I am humbled to where my pride does not blind me or control me.  I am not a doormat.  I simply gave up my ego.  I am ego-less.  I no longer belong to me.  I belong to Mike.   That excites me, motivates me, fulfills me.  Demoralize me?  No.

One last point I made with them was that my motives for being submissive are fully and totally personal.  It is not because of any society expectations, religious beliefs, or, of course, any family expectations.  I state this only to share my motives with you, not to question or belittle those who are motivated by those or other things.  I believe that this is one reason I am so happy with this.  It is absent any outside influence or pressure.  It is of my own making.

As I shared in my first few posts, I was looking for something to provide a more fulfilling life for me, my husband, and family.  I stumbled across DD and made an immediate connection with it, and it has worked for me.  I was extremely fortunate to have a husband who supported it.  Contrary to what people think, I know a lot of men would not have embraced being a Dom.  Just like submission is not for everyone (man or woman), Domination is not for everyone.

After this discussion they seem to be getting it. I am sure there will be more talks before they fully reconcile it in their minds.  Note that in no way am I trying to suggest they should do this or you should adopt this lifestyle.  HOWEVER, I do encourage them, and you, to be more vulnerable to those you love.  That doesn’t mean DD or D/s, unless you feel it should.  And even then, it takes two, and a good Dom is serious about their duties to nourish, respect, and love, as much as a good sub is serious about committing to constant submission that is always there, even when the Dom doesn’t deserve it.  

Just one last thought, also covered in Post 30 but worth repeating, is that achieving oneness with your partner is not about achieving sameness.  As it says in my favorite line from my favorite song ever, “We are one, but not the same.”  (U2’s “One”).    I strongly encourage you to read Post 30.  I found my Thrill, if you haven’t already. 

Peace, joy, love, and fulfillment!

NEXT:  137. Spanked over a new Maintenance Spanking

85. Bright or Dark? Source of Submission.

If you read my last few posts (82 or 84), you know that Donna is staying with us while John is out of the country on business.  The first part of last week was hard on Donna as John required her to be subject to all my rules, and only my rules.  Having to forsake her normal routine and acts of submission was emotionally difficult.   She enjoyed the later part of the week and the weekend as John required her to only follow her normal rules, with Mike filling in for John.

Direction, Discipline, and Service.
I’ve always known John and Donna follow a different D/s relationship compared to Mike and me.  Donna really enjoys, craves, and is fulfilled by direction, discipline, and service. As for me, I like the Service the most, Discipline is good – a nice mix of pain and pleasure – but I don’t really delve into the Direction part.  I don’t seek Mike’s input on a lot of daily decisions. Part of it is that so much of my day is being a mother, and the decisions need to be made quickly.  I will give this more thought.  Perhaps there are more things I could be doing to be more submissive around “Direction.”  I kind of look at is as a nuisance to Mike if I have to seek too much direction from him.  I do defer a lot to him as it is, but I am sure I could do more.  Humm…something for me to think about and talk about with Mike.

Anyway, John set out the rules for this week and it surprised me.  He once again ordered Donna to follow my rules, from this morning (Monday) through when she wakes up on Friday.   I thought this might be devastating to Donna but she took it well.  She told me that it is much easier this week and I was surprised by her reasoning.  She said she is upbeat about it because she knows it will be difficult for her and more importantly, John knows it too, but John wants her to do it anyway.  It’s like, she feels more submissive, and thus more comfortable doing it, precisely because it is difficult for her and John knows it and is requiring it anyway.  Bottom line, she feels more like “his” submissive this week, even though she is following my rules.  Interesting!

Submission – The Dark Side or the Bright?
Spending all this time with Donna means we’ve been able to talk a lot. We’ve talked a lot about our personal motivations and satisfaction regarding submission.  I’ve always admitted that my submission is a bit “light” compared to Donna’s, but she made an interesting observation about my submission.   She said that she feels my submission comes from a “bright” place, and that hers is more from a “darker” place.  And, while she has not known many people who are submissive, her belief is that most cravings for submissiveness comes from a “darker” place and that I was not the norm.

What she meant by dark is that in her mind the submissive has some history that includes perhaps at least some neglect or belittlement, or at worst some physical or sexual abuse.   If not any of those, then at least a depression or high anxiety of other origin.

I’ve only known one submissive –Donna. She has met a few other than me, but didn’t know them well, so our sample size is basically limited to our personal experiences.  I disagreed with her and told her that I think it is her own personal confirmation bias talking.  We all relate best to our own experiences, and tend to assume that people who are like us must have also had similar experiences and have similar motivations.   I told her I’ve never read anything about this so can only assume that like most things in life, people involved in various TTWD run the gamut of life experiences.  That includes whether or not TTWD include D/s or any other kink.  My guess is there is no set profile of “dark” or “bright” (as she called it).

I do admit that her past has some physical, emotional, and sexual trials and tribulations that I’ve been fortunate enough not to experience.  I also admit that those experiences play a role in the colloquial “things we do” as well as in the kink culture TTWD.  I do not believe a specific set of life experiences predisposes someone to seek out a D/s relationship.  As this is just a gut feeling, I am open to the fact I could be wrong.

I also sensed condescension in her tone.  As if she was a “real” submissive and I was just playing like one.  That’s a bit of an over dramatization, but, I still felt that she was inferring this.  Funny thing, but I know in my discussions with Kayla that I’ve done far worse than just infer this.  When I was still feeling resentful about the Kayla situation I told Kayla that this was a serious life choice for me and I couldn’t accept her just doing it as a lark.  Funny how the tables have turned and Donna was basically saying something similar to me.

I avoided feeling offended by Donna as I was able to relate to what she was feeling.  I even told her how I related this to my situation with Kayla.    I agreed her submission is “deeper” than mine, but mine was made to fit me and Mike, not her and John.  It also made me realize even more that it is extremely important that Kayla is allowed to create something that fits Kayla, assuming submission is even a route she decides to go.  And so what if she is just “trying it on for size?”  There isn’t anything that says she has to be committed for life.  Heck, even I eased into the current level of submission I have with Mike.  We don’t owe the submissive lifestyle a certain “level” of submission.  My conversation with Donna just reinforced with me that we should encourage each other to find and maintain a lifestyle that brings us the most joy and fulfillment, whatever that lifestyle may be. 

I wonder if there have been any studies out there about submissives?  Specifically in the Domestic Discipline sense and specifically with the woman as submissive – although it would be interesting to see if the findings are similar with male submissives.  And I don’t mean Christian Domestic Discipline.  I mean regarding women who clearly had options and alternatives and sought out a D/s or a Domestic Discipline relationship of their own volition, absent any family or community/religious expectations.

My bet is we would find that we come from all walks of life, all ages, and a wide range life experiences.  Some great, some good, some not-so-good, and yes, some very bad too.  Oh, what do I know?  I’ve apparently got the “bright” form of submission which according to Donna predisposes me to see everything with rose-colored glasses.  Maybe so.  Maybe not?

86.  Nature vs. Nurture.  Finding my DD.

83. Over/Under – A spanking game!

As Monty Python says…”And now for something completely different!”

Here is something new and creative that Mike and I added to my Rewards.   Occasionally Mike will decide that the number of strokes I will receive will be determined by a game we call “Over/Under.” Mike picks a number of strokes he feels are reasonable but does not tell me. I then have to guess and give the number I think is reasonable. The ultimate number of spankings I will receive are based upon how far off I am and whether I went Over or Under his number.

If I underestimate the number, he takes his number and subtracts my number to get a “gross” number of swats. He then DOUBLES the gross number and adds it back into HIS original number and that becomes my new “net” number of swats.
For example – if he picked 11 and I picked 7. 11 minus 7 = 4. Doubling the 4 equals 8. The 8 is then added to HIS original 11, and the new net number is 19.  

If I overestimate the number, he takes my number and subtracts his number to get a “gross” number. He then ADDS (not doubles) the gross number back into MY original number and that becomes my new “net” number of swats.
For example, if he picked 7 and I picked 11.  11 minus 7 =4.   The 4 is then added to MY original 11 and the new net number is now 15.

If I pick it correctly, then the strokes are cut in half.
For example, he picked 11 and I picked 11. Half of 11 is 5.5 and the rule is we always ROUND UP! So, the new net number is now 6.

Mike will first tell me both the implement and level of impact he has in mind. I know automatically that some implements mean fewer strokes and the harder the impact, the fewer the strokes.   I’ve found the less impactful implements are the hardest to figure out. One time for a moderate hand spanking I guessed 30 and he had chosen 60.   So I ended up with 120!! (60-30 = 30. 30 x 2 = 60. 60+60=120).

Most of the time I am pretty close, but Mike no longer picks easy round numbers like 20 or 30. That would be too easy!   He also tends to start with a little lower number than usual, knowing that more than likely we will be adding to it.   How sweet of him (touch of sarcasm).

I’ve found that the absence of this game makes the Reward more solemn than ever.  It’s like, “Wow, Mike doesn’t even want to play.  This is really serious.”  Conversely, when we do play it, it adds more levity to a Reward and makes them less solemn and more joyful.  Yes, spankings can be even MORE joyful if you put some fun and creativity behind it.  Yes, there is a touch of sarcasm there, but mostly just truth.  I find the mix of pain and pleasure very joyful so anything that adds to that is a bonus.

Game anyone?  I am thinking of a number . . .

NEXT:  84. Happy Place. 

 

 

 

76. Meet the Babysitter

We have a go-to babysitter, Kayla, who is twenty-one years old. She first started watching my son since she was 12. Suffice to say we have gotten to know her extremely well. We know her parents casually – they used to live on our street.   They got divorced and moved away, but Kayla and her mom still live in the same town, just farther away from our house. Kayla lives at home and goes to college.

When Kayla isn’t available I typically ask one of my two sisters who live in town. Between the three of them we are pretty fortunate to always be able to find someone to watch our son. I think I mentioned before that he is 16, but has special needs. He can be somewhat independent and care for himself, but needs to have some supervision to ensure he remains safe and secure. Thus, other than Kayla and my sisters, it is not like we would ever trust him with a babysitter who was unknown to us and inexperienced with being around my son. Kayla sort of grew into the role of trusted babysitter since she interacted a lot with our son when they were both little.

I often call Kayla to join me for errands when I am unable to leave our son with Mike. I find it easier to shop or do errands when I have another set of eyes, ears, and hands.   Kayla seems to enjoy it because not only do I pay her for her time, but it is basically like a shopping trip for her, even if she isn’t actually buying things. We have gotten to know each other very well, and sometimes we have invited Kayla to have dinner with us and has even stayed to watch a movie.   She is a bit like an addition to our household, especially during and after her parent’s divorce. She looked at her time with us as respite from the turmoil at home.

Where am I going with this story?

It seems cliché to have a story about the babysitter.  In a forum like this with a blog like mine, it seems obvious where this is going.  (Pause.  Let the fantasy build.  Yes, I am talking about the fantasy going on in your mind right now you perv.   Yes, keep thinking about it.  Here it comes . . . Buzz-kill!).   Let me say right now that this story is NOT going there.

Kayla may be 21, but to me she is still that little girl that grew up on our street. I have a hard time seeing my two older sons as adults, let alone Kayla. In fact, since she is about the same age as one of my son’s and younger than my oldest, I can’t envision any hanky-panky with someone who is ostensibly a peer to my children.   So, I know where your mind was going, but I’ll put a buzz-kill on that fantasy right now. It ain’t happening.

So what is the purpose of sharing this?   The issue for me is that it is getting more inconvenient for me to hide TTWD from her. She has been hanging around us with greater frequency lately.  When she is around, at best I have to turn down my submissiveness, or at worst, I turn it completely off.  I am mentally distracted by having to think in an un-sub way and just don’t like being un-submissive.  Thus, Mike and I talked and we agreed to “come out” to Kayla about some of TTWD.

I am concerned about how she will react. While I believe I know her well enough to feel like she will accept it, I don’t know if it will make her uncomfortable such that she wouldn’t want to babysit any longer. I’d hate to lose her as she is my often my respite as caregiver.   Also, it feels awkward to share something like this with her given her age and how long we have known her. I can try to justify it by remembering that I was already married at her age, and yes, she is an adult. . . but, as I said, I still see her as a little girl.

I feel that anything related to TTWD should come to her naturally, as part of growing up and seeking new experiences, not as part of something we expose her to.   I know that sounds stupid given the fact that this stuff (and far more extreme stuff) is practically everywhere these days. I just realized what it is as I was typing this.  She evokes my motherly-instincts.  Thus, it is hard to discuss a topic like this with her.  It is almost like I would be telling my own children about it.  But,  I feel I must do so as I can not suppress my submissiveness when she is around.  Plus, the thought of expressing it in front of her brings me joy and excitement. I just hope we don’t lose her.

This weekend I plan to sit down with her and explain it. I haven’t shared our lifestyle with anyone that knows me other than John and Donna.  I don’t plan on giving Kayla a blow-by-blow account (both figuratively and literally, hee hee), regarding what our Domestic Discipline is all about, but at least give her the general picture.

This ought to be interesting.  I don’t know what to expect.

Next: 77. Heart to Heart with Kayla

65. Full Body Flog

This last weekend Mike and I got together again with John and Donna. I don’t feel like going into all the details. I can only write so much about who stuck what where. Suffice to say we had lots of sex – Mike with Donna, John with me, Donna with me. I am really enjoying it and look forward to the next time we can get together. It is such a new experience for me and I can’t describe the thrill I get from it. I am sure it is shocking to people who would never consider such a thing.  I will share this – I have a new ultimate favorite sexual position. It is when I am leaning on a chair, just bent over enough so John can enter me from behind, and Donna is standing behind the chair leaning over a bit as well. She and I are able to kiss and fondle each other, and Mike is just behind Donna, inside her from behind as well. Mike can lean over and get in on the kiss-fest with Donna and I, and I can look into Donna’s eyes and Mike’s eyes as my body bounces to the rhythm of John going in and out me and Donna’s bounces to the rhythm of Mike entering and exiting her. Yummy – check the box on that fantasy!

I’d rather talk about my Domestic Discipline and my journey towards being a highly submissive wife. It is also a journey of Mike becoming a highly dominant husband.   Neither of these journeys come naturally to us, but we are both thriving as we continue to find our boundaries. We are closer than ever and our mutual admiration and love for each other continues to deepen. I think that is the wrong way to put it. It has always been deep, we just now demonstrate it in a deeper, more meaningful way.  You can’t measure the feeling of love – there is no number you can put on it to measure it. But you can experience the love through how that love is demonstrated. Our DD journey and foray into D/s has caused us to demonstrate that love in amazing ways. Trust. Caring. Respect. Joy. Whatever words that make up this thing called love, we are feeling and demonstrating them every moment of the day.

I continue to have high energy to accomplish the tasks of the day. I find myself yearning for when Mike can be home or off of work. Having so much to do helps the time go by faster. I haven’t felt like that since we were newlyweds. I continue to want to give him more of me and give him anything and everything he desires. Mike has continued to be strict with me and I am loving it.

On Sunday we tried something new at my Maintenance Session. After watching Donna’s flogging session, I wanted to try it. I asked Mike for a new toy, a flogger, and until it arrives we borrowed John and Donna’s. On Sunday, to wrap up our Maintenance Session John flogged me, all over from the neck down, front and back. It was exquisite!   Now Mike didn’t use nearly the force that John does with Donna, which was fine by me. It was mainly very light, just repeated light strokes. I’ve had my tits and palms slapped as part of punishment, but that’s been rare as the vast majority of time my physical punishments are to my ass. The sensation of the flogger was amazing and a different feeling for each part of the body. It was a sensory explosion. It felt wonderful across my breasts, but also felt good across my stomach and back. Mike went very gentle on my pussy but it was still just enough to send waves of pain-pleasure with each swipe. My thighs were the most sensitive and thus they were the least pleasurable. Overall it was like a full body massage, except with a whip. Hee hee. Not a whip, a flogger.  While it was not as relaxing as a massage, there was still this high from the endorphin rush and unlike a spanking, this rush continued for some time as it probably took over 20 minutes for Mike to finish the full body flog (Ha – if I made my own hot sauce I’d call it Full Body Flog – or maybe that’s a better name for a beer? )  Anyways, then when it ended there was a calm, peaceful feeling as the endorphin high subsided.   In my backstory I said I was self-empowered, and that I was responsible for making my life happen. No man, no drugs, just me. Well, little did I know that some of my greatest fulfillment has been from submitting to Mike and satisfying my endorphin cravings.  (Hey, could that craving be part of my ice chewing issue?).

At least it is a natural high!

NEXT: 66. A Quick Spanking Story