My collar is not my wedding ring.

At AppleBee's with Dan

        About three weeks ago I did a photo shoot with the very talented Puddintane423, You can find him on the Fetlife. The overall theme of the photo shoot was collars.  We shot each one of my steel collars. Collars I had from Eternity and Ring of Steel, regardless of the relationship I was in when I had those collars. Meaning, Rayne's collar was shot too. It felt really strange wearing something that was part of a relationship I no longer have any type of emotional attachment to. It was also the first time I wore it since Rayne and I had split up in 2012. The collar, which was a ring of steel collar was very personalized to include the birth stones of my birthday, Rayne's birthday, and my daughters birthday. There was no way of mistaking it for what it was...a relic of a past relationship.

    I have seen tons of post on Fetlife and across the BDSM community speaking on "collar hopping" and comparing collars to that of a wedding ring.  While it's a nice idealization that being presented with a collar is equivalent to a marriage proposal, I must for several reasons agree to disagree. For me, Collars are largely symbolic. I do not need one to feel more submissive and I do not need one to really show that I am submissive. However, I think it can be a nice tool in D/s and that it is a marvelous piece of jewelry. Yes, I called it a piece of jewelry, because at the end of the day that is what it is. Were I a person of more affluent means, you better believe I would have every design from ring of steel , every design from Eternity, as well as a couple of custom made orders from reputable collar manufacturers.

I know this might sound strange coming from a divorced woman, but I actually don't believe in divorce. I believe that once you are married to someone, you have combined your life with that person. The only reason I am divorced is because well, ..he asked for one, ..and I don't have the option to not comply based on my own personal views. I am also grateful for my divorce because it lead me to an amazing man. However my next marriage, I assure you will be my last. So here is why I don't a collar as equivalent to a wedding ring.

 Dan and I are monogamous, we live in a house with other lifestyles. However, we do not engage in sexual activities with them.  We have been together since April of 2013. Not very long after we got together did we have a collar ordered (for my Birthday.) I believe in the symbolic representation of the collar. "You belong to me." Which can go to all sorts of variants of D/s, Some go so far as it being a reminder that they are consensual "property."  He did give me this collar, but this collar did not come with the promise of what a legal binding marriage would. There are no tax breaks, there is no legal recognition of us being a committed union. My last name will not change, These things do however come along with the promise behind a wedding ring. I am very grateful for the collar that I have now, and the relationship that the collar represents for me. However for me it does not in any shape take the form of a wedding ring or marriage. If a marriage between us happens..great. I really hope it does.  However, I also am sure I won't value what we have any less if it never does, but there will always be a distinct difference between the two for me.

I believe that a collar comes with it's own set of promises (when given to a submissive) that are completely different from the promises of a wedding ring. Both sides are making promises that coincide with their D/s beliefs or contracts. A relationship symbolized through a collar can end as well, as it did in my case with Rayne. There are some things that I did learn from Rayne that I grew from. Her work ethic is one of the things that drives me through school and work to this day. Her belief in me is what fueled me to get into school and start going after my dreams and know that I could achieve them if I worked hard enough. I think the reminder of that is why I decided to keep her collar.  If Dan and I ever break up (knock on wood.) I will probably keep his too to remind me of what I learned from him. To give your last to those who need it the most. To care about those who cannot care for themselves, That there should be no reason to give but the want to give. I feel that relationships in themselves are lessons. Even if it's a lesson of what your not looking for, as was the case with my ex-husband. I thought I was looking for financial stability as my family wanted, ...but I soon learned it was a very weak foundation to base a relationship on.

People should be able to use their collars for any meaning that they want. If you want to present your fiance` with a collar when you propose to her, you are more than welcome to do that. If I want to have several collars that I collect from all around the world or from different manufactures, then that is my right. If someone wants it just to symbolize that they are in a D/s relationship, more power to them. It's really one of the things I love so much about collars is how versatile they are. 

The Definition of "True"

Well my lovely Fetlife family, I am writing this because I came across a couple of writings that make me face palm and utter silently to myself "I cannot not even." and because Hornsandhalo loves my rants. I know..she told me so. ;)  so let the ranting commence.

So I saw someone trying to define "submissive" and the fact that submissives could never be slaves because they don't have the "desire to serve" and how as a "True Dominant" they would never be able to accept a submissive under their collar.  They went on to explain that being submissive was someone who attended munches, and got their ass spanked a few times to satisfy their own sexual needs. Ladies and Gentlemen..I have said it once, and I will say it again. A submissive is anyone with the willingness to submit. Anything that goes beyond that statement is personal to each and every individual submissive.

Also I really hate the idealization that people seem to have in the lifestyle that slaves are somehow more devoted than those who identify as submissives. The number one reason I don't identify as a slave is explained in this writing.. To sum it up really I just don't like the term. If you identify as slave that's great, but I really feel that like everything in the lifestyle it is a personal preference. That being said, someone who identifies as a slave, does not mean they are any more devoted to their top than I am. I have the same willingness to submit, I have the same ability to serve as anyone else in the lifestyle. An awesome lifestyle blogger explained it very well when he said. "All slaves are submissive, but not all submissives are slaves." You can read about it on his blog.

Let me explain that, because I can hear the "Oh hell no I ain't no submissive!" ringing a world sound outcry. If you identify as a slave their is a good chance that you submit to a power exchange ..which would require you to submit. Therefore you're submissive.  Submissiveness is not always a title ..it is also a trait, an action, an adjective. It's such a versatile little word, is it not? Now my response to any one who feels the need to refer to themselves as a "true" dominant/slave/submissive....Well, for the dominants and submissives, there really is no such thing thing. Don't blame me, blame Webster. You either are, or you aren't. Save the switches, I haven't forgotten you guys. :)   As for the the definition of a "true" slave ...well, please refer to the previous blog post, it isn't as glamorous as you think.

Now to the final part of my rant. For anyone who ever is under the impression that they cannot be with a submissive, ..or a pet ..or any other label that someone identifies them self with, ..because they wouldn't be as devoted or as submissive as a slave, or a kajira...or again as anything that someone identifies with. Well my friend, ...that's incredibly ignorant of you.  It also tells me that you have an issue with your identity as a dominant , because you are not able to get that same kind of devotion. Why does the label make them any less valuable? Why does a label make their submission any less of a treasure? If you are quick overlook a person based on what a person identifies as then you my friend are missing out on hundreds of opportunities to connect with wonderful people. 

Bad Date

              So I have actually never had a date that really just sucked...until tonight. The funny thing is it didn't even suck in a bad way it was just a series of sucky events. I woke up late today. We work the third shift so sleeping is in the morning is kind of our thing, however today I didn't wake up until 4:00pm, When I finally did get up Dan keep asking me where I wanted to go. I explained to him that I had been asking to go to the zoo in Chattanooga for quite sometime now. Unfortunately for me, ..a big thunderstorm was coming through that part of town. So anything we did tonight would have to be an inside affair. I finally suggested the Chattanooga Aquarium, which Dan promptly agreed to. I got a bath and got all nice and dressed in my red Marvel shirt and overalls.  When we got into the car..it wouldn't start. For some reason I am having trouble with it turning over.  So it took about an hour to get the car actually started.

   By that time it was way too late to go to the aquarium because Chattanooga is about thirty minutes out of town and since it was thunder storming we had to avoid the highway and take back roads. So we figured we would go to dinner and a movie. We drove around trying to pick out something new because well....we did go all the way out to Chattanooga. We ended up settling on this restaurant called Seoul which is a Vietnamese and Korean restaurant. I am telling you now, ..it..was ..awful. The food was way over priced. I ended up paying like $13 for a cold bowl of salad because the menu didn't explain what anything was. The food didn't taste good, and the service was absolutely terrible. I should have known better by the face the place was completely dead when we went there. It was just an all around terrible experience. The atmosphere was great dim lighted with earth tones but it didn't make up for the terrible food.

 After we left the restaurant, with me still starving. We actually decided to head home. There was only movie that I wanted to see which was The giver, and Dan had absolutely no interest in seeing it. Nothing else was really playing. The thunderstorms had also rolled back through and lightening was flashing every couple of seconds so we decided to go in for an early night. So tonight was a total bust as far as it being a great date night. However, that being said I still had a good time rolling around with Dan even if our plans got messed up. If I am going to have a bad date...I am glad I had it with Dan.