Self Esteem and BDSM

Self Image and BDSM

From an early age I had a fetish that stayed with me for life. Then over the years BDSM became something that was my secret passion – my silent quiver.

This had a significant effect on me. I found in my teens that I struggled to fit into my peer group. Sure, I was a bit nerdy, but deep down I feel I saw things differently and I know I had self confidence and self esteem issues. In my  20’s I struggled to meet people and relationships eluded me.

I am sure this was all based on my upbringing and the era I was born into.

What is fetish and how does it and BDSM affect our reality?

For me it shaped my life. Though it may have been semi-dormant for decades, it never left me.

Celestia Ascension

Beliefs and reality – the dreams we live.

There are definitions of fetish and kink easily available on the internet. I feel they fall short, they are more academic than real as experienced.

Here is my version – for what it is worth.

A kink is something that arouses that’s not the generally accepted sexual norm. A fetish is a sexual act or an object that can be arousing and may be necessary for a person to enjoy sex.

Self Image

For me with my upbringing, having my fetish, my kink, gave me a poor self image. I struggled to fit in and I felt different.

The end result of this was a lack of relationships, something I felt keenly, and also an inner tension that was seldom to leave me.

I know I also tried very hard to please people. i felt that if I didn’t try hard, people would not like me and I’d be even more isolated.

All of this was based on the believe that BDSM and the fetish I had were perverted, dirty, bad, not acceptable.

Now in the ‘2000s this has changed and for the better. Now it is far better accepted and almost become main stream.

My solution?

Counseling sessions with psych therapists helped me immensely.

For the first time I talked about what I felt, and what I wanted. I talked about my frustration and my deepest and most hidden inner secrets.

AND IT WAS ACCEPTED. I WAS ACCEPTED. This was the biggest revelation of my life. I was told that it does not make me lesser, does not make me bad, does not change the way I am. For me those words had a profound effect.

Biography – The Walk Of Seven Yards

A Kink Biography

One thing the Covid lockdown has been good for is introspection. Since I can’t travel to my office, I found myself spending more time thinking about my life, and writing. I’ve even written a “TED Talk” that goes into the whole kink thing from my perspective.

Anyway. I started a kink biography! Why? Why not!

Over the decades I’ve kept small writings about where I’ve been at and what I’ve been doing. Also I have session notes from all the mistresses I’ve seen and the places they have worked out of. It has been an interesting time revisiting those notes.

I am not 100% sure I will ever publish the biography as it is rather personal, maybe I’ll just leave it a work in progress. However there are some sections I’ll publish here. Maybe there are some people who would benefit, maybe some laughs, maybe some sighs of disbelief.

Oh yes! The anecdotes section has grown considerably. I should update this site with some of them.

Anyway – here is the first small writing. This was my crossing of the Rubicon moment, a time when over three decades of thinking about BDSM was transformed into action.

I was pulled to this, unstoppably pulled toward this just like how gravity pulls us down to earth.

The Walk Of Seven Yards

The phrase … ‘The walk of seven yards took me thirty years to make’ is something I’ve often thought to myself – as it had.

Walking off the public footpath then across those seven yards to knock on an average looking green suburban front door is something I’ll never forget. Same as the words ‘Welcome slave’ from the woman, my first interaction with a dominatrix, who opened the door.

This was to be a collection of firsts; the first dungeon I had ever been in, my first contact with a sex worker, and the first of many BDSM sessions.

So it happened like this.

I walked off the footpath, knocked on the door then waited. From an almost comforting silence I heard the increasingly loud clacking of sharp definite footsteps on a tiled floor. The presumption that it was the person I was to see, a dominatrix, was confirmed when she opened the door and said ‘Welcome Slave’ in a rather sultry voice.

I had said in the phone call I made to book the session that ‘the belt’ was my thing and so I was delighted to see her wearing a rather nice medium width one round her waist. She was tall and statuesque, rather well made up and to be honest, intimidatingly attractive. The pilot cap and sharp makeup balanced out the effect into a classic dominatrix look.

After confirming who I was, she opened the door and said to enter the second door on the left, which I did.

First impressions are super important and in this it was absolutely this way. In hindsight she was a good first mistress, someone with a decade plus of experience – but she had her own demons I was later to find.

On entering the first dungeon I had ever been in, I instantly felt at home. I was happy to be there, relaxed yet eager. It was a tangible feeling and it still is.

The tension of actually getting there had dissipated, and now I had the stress of the session itself which was comparatively far more minor. Why? Thinking back, ‘it would just happen’ was where I was at. Being there was the difficult part, letting it happen wasn’t.

It is so many years ago now that I write about the session, but I do remember it well.

I was and still get triggered by being in the dungeon, the whole BDSM experience. That is a term that just occurred to me as I wrote it, and it is correct. Something calming and soothing is triggered by the experience.

Have you ever gone on holiday feeling tight and wound up and strung out, then when you arrive you suddenly feel a massive release of tension. That was exactly the feeling for me. And over the next fifteen years I still get it.

I had arrived and it felt good.

At the time I recognized that feeling I also felt the strangeness of it. There I was in a room with a bondage bench, a St Andrews cross, a wall of BDSM equipment, a mirror and a suspension winch – and a tall amazonian dominatrix – and I felt at home.

Never ever have I not felt the strangeness of this time. But the ‘welcoming coming home feeling’ continues and is such a strong feeling. I go into a dungeon and am happy.

The Interview – A Pre Session Discussion

The mistress told me to sit on a small and low stool which I did. I found myself feeling rather stupid as I looked up to her, just like back in junior school looking up at the teacher. She is a tall woman, but not quite my height so I later thought she wanted to set me into a subservient position from the get go. She really was quite clever.

Well, for the next short while the mistress questioned me about what I want, what experience I had and what I thought should happen in the session. It was all very business like and if anything a little difficult as here I was telling someone my deepest darkest most hidden thoughts and fetishes.

This was a huge first for me.

Getting Ready

Then I was told to ‘take off you clothes, put on this dressing gown, go down the hall and take a shower. Come back then we shall start the session.’ If that doesn’t put a lump in a newbies throat nothing will – and it was like that for me. And worse.

Laboring the point, now was the real moment of truth. It was scary enough knocking on the front door, this was heading into a full shaking body out of mind scary time.

Even worse and really quite stupidly, I’d not thought of this before, but I had to get naked in front of another woman as she watched. I felt that acutely, I still remember the embarrassment. I also felt the stupidity of that feeling – I had to push through it so that is what I did. Guilt at the thought of cheating on my wife is a horrid thing.

I do know that as the session progressed, it became easier and easier to be in the session, once the ice was broken. There was a comfort from it being a professional arrangement pure and simple.

After the shower and on my return, the dungeon was empty. I stood looking at the room and the implements. The collection of gear hanging on a trellis on the wall was pretty much what you’d expect to see in a BDSM dungeon and some of it was extraordinary and some of it rather mundane. What possible use could fishing sinkers have went through my mind. Clearly I had much to learn.

Then I heard footsteps returning down the tiled corridor outside.

…. to be continued…. maybe. Should I document my first bondage and discipline session here? You be the judge.

Letter To Voldemort

Open Letter To Voldemort

Voldemort,

I write this to excise you from my life, to free myself from your toxic influence, and to move forward in my life with happiness.

Our calling you Voldemort began as a humourous allusion, and thus it remained for a time. But over time it became clear that a name given in jest was actually remarkably accurate. I also called you satans faecal representative here on earth, and also an excrementer. Those attempts ar humour at your expense however denied the effects of your psychopathy by attempting to shift them onto fictional characters. Your actions however were very real and at a similar level to that malevolent character.

You probably don’t know it, and if you did I doubt you would either care or believe me when I say that you have caused me so much pain, triggered unhappiness and brought me to levels of despair I thought I would never experience. I referred to you as a psychopath which the absence of any kind of remorse or apology from you bears out.

Now, as I write this I see how stupid I have been in allowing this to happen. I am in charge of my destiny, not you.

I was stupid to think that over thirty years of friendship meant anything to you. It couldn’t from the way you behaved. Even after I gave you a second chance, a chance that so few would be given. It was based on your word and assurances and the length of our friendship, yet you betrayed me again. And so quickly. Then you said I had behaved appallingly. Your supreme delusion is that you fail to realize just how badly you behaved and the effect on others.

I was stupid to allow your toxic manipulation and influence to affect me for as long as it has. I am and have always been a better person that you will ever be. People who know us both have said that, and that has been something I struggled to accept. But I know it now. Your influence and proximity sucked that knowledge from me, making me see life through the prism of your own damaged and damaging influence.

I acknowledge that one person can cause another pain, but that is a transient thing. Only by actually allowing that pain to linger can it affect a person for as long as it has for me.

I can however be thankful to you for some things.

I see more beauty around me due to your absence. The world around me is a far better place without you. The loving relationships I have are in stark contrast compared to when around you, and for that I shall be eternally thankful.

In the time of greatest trauma when your influence was at its most malevolent, I made discoveries about myself that I probably never would have otherwise. I examined and explored things that I had repressed for decades. Thanks to you, I acknowledged then acted upon the suppressed issues and I know I am a far better person for that.

I had at times equated your actions to those of a dog but I know that is wrong. Dogs are loving, loyal, guilelessly companionable and make the lives of those around them better. You have none of those enviable qualities. Your callous treatment of me and those around me had been such that it shook my confidence in the human race for a time, but now I acknowledge it for what it is. The effect of actions was to bring all around you down your own level.

Yours is not a personality that benefits people, that promotes growth or happiness. Being free of your presence makes that clear.

So Voldemort, if we ever meet again, please don’t acknowledge me. Just go forth happy in your delusion and seek whatever solace there may be in knowing that you are alone in this world in the depth of your toxicity to the human spirit. I do not wish you well, or ill. I wish you nothing at all, for ever more.

This letter to you is my Christmas present to me. I shall have other presents from the many loved ones around me and I shall enjoy them also. I shall go and sit on the deck overlooking a lovely expanse, enjoy a meal with my wife and smile to myself. You are gone.

Signed,

You know who I am.

Probably one among many.

Trust and BDSM Play

Trust Is Core In BDSM

After so many years in BDSM, today I was reading about Trust in BDSM. It made me think about my sessions and the relationship between me and mistress. Trust is something I have taken for granted till now.

Here is a definition of trust; I am naked, my wrists cuffed and pulled above my head in suspension. Straps bind my legs and I’m tightly gagged. I can’t escape, I can’t make a sound. I can’t change the outcome. I have placed my body and my soul in the hands of mistress to do with as she wishes.

Then Mistress does as she wishes; Mistress picks up a prison strap. It is a replica of what was once used to beat prisoners in Canadian prisons. It is one of the more truly formidable instruments of punishment. She takes her time. She runs the strap through her hands as she savours the moment before she uses it. And then she does. I must take what she gives.

In session, it is all about trust. The sub, the slave, is given body and soul to the mistress, to the dom. The whole session is based on trust, empathy, and a connection between the players.

Mistress takes the prison strap then disciplines her slave just as she knows he needs it. Hard.

Slave places his self in her care, for her to deliver the punishment he craves.

Prison Strap

Almost designed to test trust

The hand providing support

Trust enables all players – trust is core.

Truth in admitting our needs, in defining play, is all based on trust. Trust lets the players move forward to achieve their goals.

BDSM is based on trust.

Heavy Corporal and BDSM Is Not Abuse

Heavy corporal punishment and bondage is the focus in my sessions. But this applies equally to other kinds of play.

The session leaves the slave in an altered state of euphoria. There can be many reasons a person seeks this out and operating at different levels. But the key feature is that the slave, the sub, seeks this out. Abuse is not a factor.

Always, the slave will work with the mistress, the dom, to define what is to happen. There will be some form of a script that will be followed to give the slave what is needed. This is called safe, sane, concensual play.

Even in Extension or No Limits sessions the mistress will always use judgement. When to stop will always be the most important consideration.

Same if the slave is needing a Judicial session which is designed to punish and push the limits without the slave being able to change the course of the session.

Any respectable and experienced mistress or dom will take into account how the slave is faring. For challenging sessions, this will not going to be the first such interaction – there will be experience between the participants on which to base how the session proceeds.

These are all reason I use pro-Dom mistresses in established premises. I know I can trust them, I place myself in their care.

What About Other Kinds Of Play

I dont have experience with them. I talk about what I have done, experienced, and have feelings for.

However, the whole Trust Dynamic will be happening. In traditional dom/sub play the sub will trust the dom to take care of them. To observers it may be tough love – punishments, restraints – positions and situations designed to test the sub. But that is the play.

Some forms of bondage are also based on a great deal of trust. Vac-beds which confine and restrict the vitim extremely heavily are another example. The players will have a trust relationship in play.

How Is It For You? Does this ring true when you think about it?

Thank You To MistressTish

Thank You Mistress Tish

Mistress Tish on her website mentioned how much work we’ve been doing here on our website. THANK YOU. She totally gets it.

Silent Quivers website is exactly what I feel with the BDSM I like. It is not a small thing – it is earthquake strong inside me and it has been my life for many decades now.

Depression and Anxiety

Briefly, for those coming from Mistress Tish’s website, the Silent Quivers from BDSM has a deep fundamental impact on the psyche. It can’t be ignored, it can’t be denied, and if something is not done about it, it is damaging. It was for me.

For myself, I was in denial for decades. Then in a time of stress, I broke. Depression was the result, with panic and anxiety attacks. Life was not good.

Suicidal thoughts were never far away either. Some days I said ‘I’ll end this tomorrow‘ and each day I put it off – thankfully.

It was only through accepting  the ‘BDSM IN ME’ that I was able to cope with life again. From that came acceptance, then peace, then happiness.

Life really does shine when you come to accept all it has to bring.

About Mistress Tish

I’ve known Mistress Tish for a half dozen years. We email regularly and I watch her website for updates. From what I can make out, she is unique.

Sometimes the ‘book by its cover’ saying could not be more true and none more so than for Mistress Tish. She has a half dozen years experience as a high end Dominatrix. She also holds a PhD in quantum foam space physics and mathematics. Her problem solving and practical hands on bent suits both her professions.

In the dungeon, her analytical and problem solving skills merge with a deep understanding of BDSM to produce sessions that leave clients absolutely engrossed and fulfilled.

In physics it places her at the lead in her field of experimental and theoretical physics, so much so that her startup company is now in the running for significant contacts.

Mistress Tish

It also dosn’t hurt that in fetish she is drop-dead stunning.

Do any research and it is clear Mistress Tish is an absolutely gorgeous Mistress, a Dominatrix, at the top of her profession.

She crafts sessions then works them to bring her clients to new levels of experience.

Her biographer (and I suspect client) Trikki Watson has more than a few stores about Mistress Tish. He’s published a few on Amazon and has told me about more that are coming.

Being Precious About BDSM

I’m sorry I sound like I’m harping on about this topic, but you see, it has been such a problem to me over the years that I can’t do anything else.

I’ll try to tone down the angst-index after this post.

Being Age-ist.

I think that people of my (advanced) vintage feel the BDSM stigma far more than the younger set. I’m sure of it. I have been to a few play parties, a few years ago, and the much younger people there were vastly more comfortable with the whole dynamic than me.

I remember commenting to one young man in his late twenties that his generation looked vastly more honest. He was surprised at this. I said it was self honesty in that they looked to embrace their inner feelings better and also honesty with others in discussions. Both these things have been issues for me. He was surprised as it came from someone old enough to be his father, and that I actually said it.

That is a thing. The younger generation, in their twenties, thirties, and maybe early forties are vastly more accepting. They probably don’t understand my issues as it is foreign to them and their perceptions. My comment would be ‘how lucky you are.’

Time Has Helped

It has, isn’t that obvious. Sorry. Take it from someone who has been a keen observer of trends in this area, it is absolutely true that the whole BDSM thing has changed dramatically in the last two decades.

No longer is it an utterly taboo and a perverted topic. No longer is it seen as a mental illnes. it has become something that is almost accepted. Or, maybe seen as an alternative type pass time, a little odd maybe.

Just recently in the local newspaper it was mentioned that a woman was into bondage. Publishing that and some broad details was just such a difference to my earlier years. Then it would have been reported as at best being ‘alternative’ or more likely  perverted.

The Fifty Shades Thing

I haven’t read the books, though I have skimmed a few pages. While the topic is pretty much on trend for BDSM, and we have a millionaire etc in the mix making it totally unrepresentative of most BDSM play, it has huge relevance. It has brought the whole thing out of the closet. It has helped me.

I’ve seen the Fifty Shades being criticised as being hugely unrealistic, stupid, strange, poorly written etc. I don’t care. It has given some legitemacy to the whole BDSM community. My feeling is that if it’s not being spoken of in a bad light, that’s all to the better.

Yes. Overall. I think it has brought BDSM into a mainstream acceptance. It has done a lot of good for the genre.

Now someone can say ‘spanking’ and ‘bondage’ then the whole Fifty Shades thing is suddenly brought into focus and a default acceptability results.

All of a sudden mums and dads can get a feeling that it’s not that bad because they made a movie for general release out of it. And on the basis of this the Fifty Shades topics and play have become a staple of other TV and movie shows.

The Biggest Change

For me and it is obvious from the above, the biggest change has been the better acceptance of BDSM as a socially accepted pass time.

Now it is seen as just maybe a little odd, a little kinky, maybe a little out there and that’s about it. Suddenly we are not perverts or worse.

Now people are able to admit to it and not feel traumatised and worry about perceptions. There is a stable-base to point to (the Fifty Shades thing).

Now also the internet is so much more available to all. It has so much more information and the people providing it are vastly more open minded. Society is changing, hopefully for the better.

What do you think? What has been your experience?

Strong Words That Helped

It was in about 2005 when I sought professional help as my life was in crisis. Things had got vastly out of hand. I was a mess.

I saw a local psychologist  which was the best thing I ever did. She provided insights that made a life changing difference to me.

‘What does denial bring’ were the first words she said that hit me hard. It was obvious to her and probably to anyone reading this that I was sufferig from trying to hide my inner self. It was equally obvious to her that I should do something about it and this was the first step in that process.

‘BDSM does not make you a bad person’ was another set of strong words she gave me. These helped absolve me of guilt. In my state, that was a revelation.

I don’t know why you don’t have a BDSM session’ was another set. I described to her my inner longing and what I had fantasized about for years. She could see the turmoil in me and she said those words. They were again revelatory in that someone could accept me even knowing that.

‘The BDSM session does not lessen who you are.’ This was almost a repeat of the second thing, but it was in reference to my position as a manager, as a husband and father.

I Recommend Seeking Professional help

If you feel lost, abandoned, prone to depression and panic attacks then it is vital you seek help. You are not alone and help really is available.

If your state of mind has this BDSM thing in there, lurking, destabilizing you then take heed. You are just like me and again, help is readily available.

 

 

 

Re-Write – First Blog

So. I deleted the original SilentQuivers site and this is a total re-write. I kept a copy of the blog posts – I’ll recreate them over the coming days.

Why? I was vastly unhappy with just about everything in the site, and even the page editor. I tried “updating” but the inevitable happened. I broke it badly. The only option was to delete everything and start again.