A Big Decision

Changes are coming in spades at the moment it seems. Earlier this week a rather monumental decision was made. As you all know, we have been trying for the past two years to have a baby. There has been a lot of hope attached to the process and a lot of stress, frustration and fear. Stress of will this be the month to try? If we try will it work? Frustration with the clinic wasting so much of our time as we wait for appointments that they are an hour late for and again the planets not aligning to allow us to try. And fear of what happens if it works. What will change? What will we lose? How much will we struggle financially? How will mental health be affected?

PXS was an amazing experience for us. (Don't worry I'm not actually changing the topic.) We had never been on a real holiday together and having nearly a week where the full focus was pretty much on our Power Exchange was quite an eye opener. The workshops were great, the people wonderful, the realization that we have come so far in the last year and half a high note and then the drop came with the realization it could be many, many years before we are able to go to such a thing again if in the next year we have a baby.

If we have a baby the spontaneous evening of play, pain, fuck, dinner, play, pain, fuck, cake would not be able to happen like that again. We can't ignore our child for hours on end as I make my slave scream in delicious pain and not expect Child and Family Servies to come knocking. Hell it was enough to realize right before the end of a great, kind of loud scene and about ten seconds away from elle orgasming that a police car was sitting in front of our house, lights flashing. Luckily they hadn't come to take me away for beating my slave, but it was still a mood killer. Change that to a baby screaming while elle is screaming and CFS pounding on the door. Play would be out and since a lot of our sex is pretty rough that would be limited too.

Our dynamic has become the foundation for our marriage and we both fear how the addition of a child would affect and change that. Neither of us want the strain on our relationship that would come with very limited ability to continue the rules and protocols that we have while little eyes and ears were around, very limited play, inability to attend conferences out of town, and even just a strain to continue our commitment and dedication to MAsT: Winnipeg.

Not only is the affect to our dynamic of concern because of the fun times but it really helps balance elle's mental health. I'm not just saying we don't want to sacrifice some playtime or change how elle serves me coffee, but it is the structure and release that our dynamic gives to elle that really helps her. After coming back from PXS we both had drop, elle's was quite difficult and took some time to fully come out of. It seemed to be so hard for her in part because she was scared that with daily life and responsibilities back in the picture we would lose some of what we had gained while away. Even just the thought sent her spinning.

We have learned pretty well over the years what makes her mental health worse and what helps. Lack of sleep is not good. One day is manageable but if they start stacking up we both know where that road leads, so we do our best to not let that happen. She has a doctor's note at work so they can't mandate her and really fuck up her sleep; she has a bedtime that we are fairly good at sticking with; I don't have her get up with me in the morning when I think sleep would be more important. It helps. A good sleep for her is probably one of the most effective ways to keep her in a good place. How then would a baby that doesn't sleep through the night for what could be years affect her night after night.

I know sometimes that elle just needs me to back off and give her space; I know that when she is in that place there are sometimes hurtful words and actions that she is not in control of; I know that at that time she needs to see that I'm not going to abandon her; and, I know when she comes back down she needs me more than ever to tell her how much I love her and her home is always with me. Yep, I know all of this. A baby, knows none. A toddler, knows none. A teenager, well that's when we would send them off to boarding school or sell them for medical experiments because they think they know everything.

elle needs peace, structure and to give up control to stay balanced. I need peace, structure and to have control to keep our life balanced. Having a baby would be like adding a ten pound weight to a scale that has feathers on the other side.

If you haven't figured it out yet, we have decided to stop trying to have a baby. Since this decision was made we have both said how much lighter we feel.

Don't get me wrong, before and throughout the process we have both very much wanted a child. I'm sure there will always be a bit of that want left in us. We were trying because we had the best of intentions and had it happened a year ago when we were just starting to really get our M/s feet under us then we would have been thrilled. Now that our M/s is so strong we feel we can't have both. We had to choose and M/s with all of the things that that encompasses for us, is the choice we've made. If we felt we could have both we would. I know this is the right decision for us though.

Slavery Follow-up, PXS Review, and Our New Kink

There are a few things that are swirling around in my head this morning. I haven’t written any sort of follow up to my last post about struggling with the word slave, and neither Master nor I have written about our wonderful experience at the Power eXchange Summit or the new path that we have started to explore.

So to start, the slavery struggle.

I still have a hard time once in a while but I have, for the most part, gotten past thinking that I need to find a new title. Part of it was another book on WWII, The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz by David Avey.  The author was a British POW in a camp just outside of Auschwitz who traded places with a Danish Jew twice to get a first-hand account of what was really going on inside the death camp as well as helping another Jewish man. In it he said something along the lines that the Nazis treated the prisoners as less than slaves because a slave is at least valued by their owner. I think that, for the most part, that is true. The Nazis didn’t want those people to survive and did almost everything possible to ensure that they died. Master most definitely values me and want me to live so I can continue serving Her. I am well cared for and want for very little. Hell, yesterday She gave me a foot massage and cooked me dinner.

Another thing that has continued my thoughts on this subject, though not in making me feel more at ease with the title of slave is Episode 73 of the KinkyCast, and some of the writings on the Fetlife profile of the person that they interviewed. There is some very interesting and thought provoking stuff but since I didn’t ask permission to repeat anything that was said/written I will leave it at that and highly suggest that you go listen and read for yourself.

I still don’t know if slave is quite the right word to use. I don’t fit the “true” definition; none of us in the lifestyle do because none of us can truly be owned by another person. We are not forced to obey, we can legally leave at any time and there is not a thing our Owners can legally do to stop us. We choose to obey. We in the BDSM community, and general society at large, to some extent, tend to adapt words to suit our own needs. And words evolve, I get that. But I can’t just pick any word and use it however I so choose. Like I said to Lee the other day I can’t call a road a river and expect others to have a clue what I’m talking about without clarifying and/or explaining what I mean every time I do. We label everything in our world so we can all be on the same page, imagine a world where we all made up our own names for things, it would be chaos! But within the BDSM community I don’t know if there is a better widely known title for what my position is than slave. So slave it is, for now?!?

I’m just starting to repeat what I said in my last post so I will stop here on this topic except to say that there are a few other titles that I have been tossing around (indentured servant and vassal are two) but Master said that She wants me as Her slave so the struggle continues.  More to come on this topic in the future I’m sure.

On to the Power eXchange Summit (PXS) recap.

I know I can speak for both myself and Master when I say we had a great time. We met some wonderful people, participated in many inspiring workshops and roundtables and overall came away with a better, stronger power exchange. We even won a prize for travelling so far to attend (we were the only ones who came from Canada, or anywhere other than the USA , for that matter I'm pretty sure). We arrived in Columbus the day before the Summit started so we had a bit of time to go exploring, which was nice. Once PXS actually started it was a very busy weekend. I started off Saturday by going to a workshop on chronic pain and kink while Lee went to one on needs wants and desires. Then we went to the cuckqueaning one. After lunch it was the Executive PE workshop then one on empowerment. We ended the workshop day by going to a roundtable on sexual orientation and gender in PE which was interesting. Saturday evening was the roaring ‘20s casino night where we had our photo taken (which, I realized just the other day was the first professional photo taken of us in the five and a half years of being together!) and played a game and hung out with some of the people that we had met. We also won a very yummy smelling bison leather flogger in the silent auction.

Sunday we went to a workshop on polyamory and PE and ended the Summit with a workshop a workshop that had been wrongly titled on the website and in the run book as honor, service and devotion but was actually about the architypes/models of M/s relationships by Raven Kaldera and Joshua Tenpenny. After the closing ceremonies we had a pizza lunch and headed back to our hotel room. We had planned to go out a bit but we were both spent and decided to just lay low for the evening and spend time decompressing and packing for our early flight the next morning. The two workshops that stood out for me the most were Executive Power Exchange by Kevin and katie and Cuckqueaning by Doug and slave lori. The Executive Power Exchange one gave us some new information to use but more so gave us words that help us describe our style of PE. The cuckqueaning workshop on the other hand has helped us start down a new path in our relationship, more on that in a bit.

Overall, I would say that going to PS was one of best things (if not the best thing) we have done for our relationship. The event drop, which didn’t really start until we got home on the Tuesday evening and lasted through the weekend, was so worth it. I would go again in a heartbeat. I have actually already looked at the calendar for next year trying to figure out which weekend it will be!

Lee and I have agreed that we need to make going to these kinds of events more of a priority and therefore plan our vacation time around them as much as possible and be more prepared financially for them. For a brief moment we were looking at going to the M/s con in DC in September but we just cannot afford to go without putting a strain on ourselves.

Next up is our new kink, cuckqueaning.

I guess in the strictest fashion of the word we aren’t quite looking at cuckqueaning since Lee is a woman and cuckqueaning is typically with a dominant man and a submissive woman but I don’t know if there is a term for cucking with only female participants.

Since we haven’t yet started to look for a third woman to join we are more in the fantasizing stages of exploring this kink. Master has been mostly denying me sexual release/orgasm. She has been using me to get Herself off, which She had done many times before PXS but before She would usually allow me to masturbate afterwards, now I can’t. She has taken away permission to ask for sex and orgasm. I can still tell Her that I'm horny though. She has also been edging me, getting me very close to cumming then backing off so that I will learn that sexual stimulation doesn’t always lead to me orgasming. There have been a few sexual encounters where She has humiliated me by telling me how much better it will be once we/She finds another woman to fuck while I am made to just watch and possibly use my mouth to clean them after they are finished fucking. I get so turned on just thinking about all of this. Why do I get so horny thinking about my wife fucking other women? Why do I get so turned on by the idea of being used and not allowed to orgasm? Master has told me that She isn’t going to stop allowing me to orgasm entirely but in the three weeks since we have started this, there have only been two or three times we have had sex that I’ve been given permission to cum. Before this, it wouldn’t have been uncommon for me to orgasm (and usually multiple) about four times a week, including the times I would masturbate for Master. I just texted Master to tell Her that I’m so horny. She told me to go fill my ass with the plug so I will be even more wet and horny for when She gets home so I can put on a show for Her. Now I am aching I am so horny, which in turn makes me feel very submissive, which is why we are doing this. Being sexually aroused makes me want to serve Her so much more. I love it! I want to feel like this all the time. I hope that we start our search for a cuckcake soon.

I was going to write about coming out kinky, a topic that has been on my mind a lot lately as that is what we are going to talk about at MAsT this weekend but I’ve run out of time so I will leave it for another day.

Struggling with slavery

i am currently reading "If This is a Woman Inside Ravensbruck: Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women" by Sarah Helm. i'm about 2/3 of the way through it and already this book has stirred up a lot of thoughts and emotions for me. It absolutely baffles me how people could carry out such horrific acts on others. It has made me question calling myself a slave.

i told Master a couple of days ago about how i am feeling. We talked for a little while about it. When She asked me what i wanted to do about it, i asked Her that that depended on whether She was wanting for me to reconcile my feelings with the idea or if we are going to look at trying to find new words. She told me that She expects reconciliation.

i have been tasked with trying to figure out how. How do i separate my slavery with true slavery? i feel like me being called/calling myself a slave makes light of the tremendous suffering and terror that true slaves went through throughout history and are, to this day, still going through. How on any level can i, sitting in comparatively absolute luxury, equate myself to someone who has know real horror? i have never known what it is like to be starved, tortured, made to live in filth and disease, used for medical experimentation and worked to death. i have never had to worry that at any moment i might be killed for any reason. i have the ability to talk with anybody i choose, read anything i want and speak up if i think my Master is doing something that will harm me.

How can i call myself a slave? Yes, i am my Master's property but does that make me a slave? Is that enough? i have the ability, as mentioned earlier that i have the right to speak up, but i don't have the right to tell Master what She will do with that information. i have given over control to Her but in reality i have done so willingly and freely and could at any moment revoke that consent. Yes that would probably end our relationship. She would have no right to "hunt" me down and force me to come back if i left. Does She doesn't have the "right " to transfer ownership of me to another master, that is something that we negotiated in the beginning. She has full control of our relationship but if that relationship ends so does Her control of me and what my future will be.

i think that the difference is a word that, up until now, i have left out of this.That word is Consent. A am a consensual slave. But isn't that an oxymoron?

i still don't have an answer yet, i imagine that it will take more time and soul searching before i can come to terms with my slavery.

Somewhere in my "researching" someone said something along the lines that just because that you can use your property any way you chose that not everything you have the right to do is right, morals still apply to Masters (and slaves)w. i willingly gave up my freedom to Master because i knew that She will use me well. She respects me and is not careless in how She deploys her Mastery over me. 

i'm sure there will be more to come on this topic in the future.

Mental Health, MAsT, Service and PXS All In One

This is elle writing, i couldn't get the internet on my account to work so i'm using Sir's- hence this post being authored under Her name.

I'm home from work today with some sort of stomach bug so i thought i'd try to write a post even though it's only been a couple of days since the last one.

i seem to get sick a lot, like almost monthly there seems to be something going on. i've read before that people with mental health problems, especially during 'flare-ups', get physically sick more often as well. I would definitely say that i'm having a flare-up now. About two months ago Master and i went to our doctor and asked him to reduce my anti-depressant medication as it seemed like i was feeling very anxious and agitated/on edge all the time. He agreed and also gave me a script for an adjuvant med to try if i found i was getting more depressed. But, i can't take it. It's not recommended if you're pregnant or trying to become pregnant.
For the first couple of weeks after the reduction i was doing okay, more than that i felt emotionally and mentally stable for the first time in a long time. Then i hit the edge of the cliff and for the past six weeks or so i have been more and more depressed. i have begged Sir to let me die more days than not i think and have gone for weeks without having a day that i didn't cry. We have added zinc and magnesium to the concoction of 'happy' pills that i take on a daily basis; omegas, vitamin D, iron and Wellbutrin.
Are they helping? i haven't seen a big change but maybe the frequency of crying has decreased slightly in the last 10 days or so. i don't know how long it would take before either of them are helping. And, yes, i know i should have probably only started one at a time to see which one (if it is only one) that is working but with the way i have been feeling i didn't have the time to do med trials properly, i just need results. Maybe once i have things stabilized again i will remove one and see if there are any changes.

Last night i asked Sir about seeing if some of the T.V. shows that we can't get might be available on iTunes, for example Orange is the New Black. i've heard a lot of talk about this show but i've never seen it. And we can't change our cable because it is provided through our landlord. At one point in the discussion Sir got all excited about seeing all the ladies in their inmate uniforms, and i responded that yes that would be nice but i was interested in seeing the guards. i pointed out how stereotypical of us it is to pick the side we did and we had a good laugh over it.

Last weekend was our monthly MAsT discussion on service. It was supposed to be presented by Master and myself as well as two of the other organizers but one was sick so a friend stepped in at the last moment to help us out. The discussion went well, there was some great conversations. The research and private discussions that Master and i had prior to the group discussion really have made me think about the service i provide Master in our dynamic. We have been reading Real Service by Raven and Joshua which has made me think a lot about the whys and hows of my service. One thing that i've been contemplating is why i enjoy service. In Real Service, it is mentioned that people are drawn to service either for the service itself but more often for the control.  i believe that i enjoy being of service because of both but being under Master's control is usually what attracts me. I do also very much enjoy serving just to see Her happy; i think for most people it's not one or the other which is what i felt they were saying in the book.

We've talked briefly about the level of protocol, rules, etc that Master is expecting for Power eXchange Summit. There will be many more conversations about PXS, especially if we drive. i'm getting so excited and nervous about the whole idea!

Exciting News! We're Going to PXS!

Hopefully...

(FYI: This post was written jointly)

At the moment it comes down to elle's work boss approving some shift swaps before tickets sell out.

We will be driving 2000 kms each way for a whirlwind of a weekend at Power eXchange Summit in Columbus, Ohio!

That is, if Lee passes Her road test on Friday. (Good luck Master!) If not, we'll be flying. This trip is not going to be cheap either way, and we've been saving for a while now, but with how low the Canadian dollar now is, our cash flow will take a pretty big hit exchanging it for American.

MAsT: Winnipeg is generously donating the profits from the 50/50 raffles that we had at our meeting last night and will be having at our upcoming workshop and meeting. We are also thankful to a couple of very generous friends that gave us a donation! We hope to learn many new things; both for our relationship and that we can share with MAsT: Winnipeg.

There are a number of great classes to choose from but the vibe from being around so many people in the Ms lifestyle is a big part of why we want to go. It will be intoxicating. We aren't public players, so one thing that really attracts us to PXS is that on the Saturday night they have a casino night rather than a dungeon. Having the casino games will allow us to meet and socialize with people we might otherwise not have a reason to approach and with the games acting as a kind of built-in icebreaker, which is great as neither of us are the greatest at approaching new people and striking up a conversation.

So stay tuned as we get ready for our big adventure!

30 Days of Kink Days 3-5 Take Two

Day 3: How did you discover you were kinky?

Lee - I didn’t actually become aware that I was kinky until elle and I started playing around in the bedroom and I don’t even remember how that began. I know she was the one to broach the subject though and for a while we switched. It didn't take long to decide what side we needed to be on and we realized that the kinky stuff was awesome but we wanted more of a lifestyle and not just a bedroom activity.  If not for elle, I think this may have remained buried inside me for a long time and I would still be having the minimally satisfying, one sided, let more and more time pass between, kind of sex that I had before. My other relationships just had not be nurturing and supportive enough to put myself out there in any way. This lifestyle would have been out of the question.  

elle - How did I discover that I am kinky? Well, I don’t really think that one 'discovers' that they are kinky any more than one would 'discover' that they are gay or any other variant of mainstream, sexually or otherwise. Realizing my sexuality, both as a lesbian and a slave were learning processes. It didn't happen in an aha moment, it was more like a trickle out of a leaky faucet. As I mentioned the first time I answered these questions I imagine porn probably made me realize that I was turned on by kinky sex, which lead me down the path to where I am now.

Day 4: Any early experiences that, in retrospect, hint at your kinks?

Lee - Before being aware of any kinks, I read some of the Gor series and really got off on the ones that were focused on the slaves. Some of my own writing involved aspects that could have been considered on the kinkier side as well. Also, an ex and I played around with roleplay once or twice in which I took the top role.  None of these made it even cross my mind that maybe there was more out there to discover.

elle - From a young age, I have had kidnapping/abduction and rape fantasies. Usually the assault was by a group of people who would make me do humiliating things or do them to me. When I was in my early 20’s, my then girlfriend and I had, I guess what you would call a rape scene, twice. We were, admittedly high both times. But even though I was not sober I could tell that really enjoyed the way it made me feel. I was fairly sexually promiscuous, with both men and women, from the time I started having sex until I met Lee. To be honest, I quite enjoyed the one night stands (for the most part), even though the sex was usually not the best. I liked feeling slutty and a bit used. I liked the humiliation of having to take the bus/walk home in my bar-star clothes on Easter Sunday morning as church was letting out (true story). With some of my partners some light kink stuff happen during sex, you know, the usual 'beginner' kind of stuff- holding your partner down, dirty talk, some light spanking, a blindfold. None of those experiences were enough to alert me about what my future life would be though. 

To be honest I am not, what some would call, a natural submissive. I was a bossy big sister growing up, my own mother told me I was a little drill sergeant. I think that many people who know me would probably think I would be the one in charge since I am a pretty big control freak. I would probably do okay in the dominant role if I were in that position but Master and I have chosen a different path.

Day 5: What was your first kinky sexual experience?  If you haven’t had one yet, talk about what you hope to have happen.

Lee - The roleplay mentioned above. I'm pretty sure it was their idea. I was a psychologist that basically talked my client into having sex with me as 'therapy'. From what I remember it was quite hard getting into character because I was nervous about doing it right, but after a little while I got more into it and had some fun. It was many years before my next step into the kinky world.

elle - As for my first kinky experience, I'm going to presume that the question is referring to the first experience that was had with the knowledge that what was happening was BDSM. So, for me, that means the first time Lee and I played. I don’t remember that any more, which I think is kind of sad in a way. But from reading my 2011 answer I discovered that I topped Her the first time we played. As an aside though, I texted that tidbit of info to Master a bit ago and we both agreed that it didn't come as a surprise that I topped Her the first time given our personalities and the fact that She didn't initiate sexy times very often when we first started dating.

30 Days of Kink Days 1 & 2 Take Two

We have been quite busy lately, with what I don't know but somehow it is already the end of February, and our writing has gotten a bit behind. I hope to be changing that and getting us onto a somewhat regular schedule. I'm not really going to give any kind of update today though, but will shortly. For now, we have decided to work through the 30 days of kink questions and will be posting our answers together. elle started answering these questions a few years back so it will be interesting to see what kind of changes we will see. You can find her original thirteen in the archives.

Day 1: Dom, sub, switch?  What parts of BDSM interest you?  Give us an interesting in-depth definition of what that means to you. Basically define your kinky self for us.

Lee - I am a Master in a power exchange marriage. I have been slow to find my place as a Master because, unlike most in this lifestyle, I don't feel this was the 'role' I was born into. I have a pretty easy going to the point of passive personality which is quite in conflict with our dynamic. However, we could not live any other way. I've had a tendency to let people wipe their shoes on my back and have felt very unappreciated and used because of it. Neither of us wanted that in our relationship. I needed to take the control and be able to say 'no', to have elle show her devotion to me through submission and service, and to grow into a stronger person. Living 24/7 M/s has made me feel more appreciated and cared for then I ever have before. elle is my most prized possession.

I am also a Daddy. It is in our Daddy/girl times that I take much more direct care of my girl, where I can dote on her and make her feel extra special...and sometimes I violate her innocence. Having a Daddy side helps balance our dynamic in that it gives us some time to interact on a very casual level. The power exchange is always there but elle serves in a more helping Daddy out kind of way rather than through orders and rules - even if she is doing the same thing.

elle - I am an owned slave, property. More accurately, I am 24/7 live-in slave married to my Master. M/s and power exchange is how Lee and I live our lives together and the guiding principle of our relationship. I have surrendered myself to Master and thrive in being of service to Her. My day-to-day life is also influenced by our M/s dynamic, for example, I ask Lee before accepting extra shifts at work. In all things I do, I am her slave first and foremost.

I also have a little side, though I don’t really consider myself to be a little per se. I don’t have an exact age as a little, I find that my “little age” seems to fluctuate depending on the situation. Although in the beginning our Daddy/girl dynamic was nonsexual, it has changed over time and now we do incorporate age play in our sex on occasion.

Day 2: List your kinks.

elle - For us kink is how we play. So my answer will be based upon that. When it comes to play, I'd say that my main kink is pain. I’m a masochist; I love rough body play (especially when I get to fight back) and heavy impact stuff. Pretty much anything that’s going to leave me with deep purple bruises when we’re finished is right up my alley.

I enjoy many other activities though - sexual use/ownership including forced sex or rape play and orgasm restrictions, choking and breath play, psychological play (either mindfucks or humiliation), bondage and/or restraint.

My all-time favourite toys are Lee’s hands, fists, boots and voice.

Lee - Defining my kinks is a bit hard. I love making elle moan, scream, cringe and whimper, however that may be accomplished. Quite often that is done through rough body play (punching, kicking, slapping) which is my favorite activity. There is a lot of power behind pulling back and kicking your slave as she lay on the floor. It's intoxicating. I have a sadistic streak and love giving elle pain and really enjoy the day or two following when bruises are fresh on her arms and I can give her a tight hug and kiss while hurting her at the same time. I love having physical struggles with her and overpowering her; the more she fights back the more I can get out of my head and into the moment. Rape play or CNC is wonderful. Bondage and breath play. Humiliation play such using the ball gag to make her drool and derogatory name calling and making her admit to being or liking such things is really fun, as is making her beg for something she starts off saying she doesn't like or want. Just to name a few.

Check back soon for more answers.