From Apprentice to Journeyman

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. It was filled with sunshine and cool breezes, a fine accompaniment for my solitude.

I am most often a stream-of-consciousness type of person when I talk and write. My mind wanders and can visit so many topics that it would befuddle anyone else's sensibilities. How, pray tell, can you start with a thought and end 180 degrees on the other side of it? Six degrees of separation? For me, it's more like 30 degrees of separation. Today my mind focused primarily on service, devotion and craft. I hope that I can boil it down to a somewhat understandable post!

My brother is a carpenter. A true artist in the craft. He spends long hours on the phone to me describing his mastery of taking a straight, flat board and making it curve. Our mother used to say that a true sign of quality is the craftsmanship of a thing's "underside" - the part that no one may see. If there is quality there, you have made a good investment. He may not admit it, but he took that lesson to heart. You can see it in his work. I have often thought that I would appreciate his handmade bookshelves to anything I could buy at the local box store. He chooses the wood, the best grains, the prettiest boards. He makes sure every measurement is perfect and every shelf level. How can one watch him work and not want to take care of his product with as much love and pride as he put into building it?

A carpenter's craft is a strange analogy to be sure, for a Dominant/submissive lifestyle, no? But why should I not look at this fragile, tentative bond between two people and look on it as a craft? Something to be cultivated and practiced? When I first started looking into this lifestyle, I felt like I was beginning a journey into a dark underworld. My first relationship in this life ended badly, making me feel like I was unworthy of the devotion of my partner. I soon realized that I have never been farther from the truth.

Serving a Master/Mistress can be art. There is such subtle beauty in every act if we notice it. Picture, for instance, handing someone a cup of coffee. It's can be a very common and unremarkable act. But after studying the movements of a Geisha pouring tea and her simple act of gracefully kneeling, I learned to combine those two movements. Not bending over like an old farmer, but sliding the right foot backward while bending the left knee, keeping the back straight and coming straight down to both knees as to not spill the hot liquid. A twist of the wrist, holding the hand so that the movement looks effortless, even seductive. It takes practice. That simple movement communicates a great deal of devotion. The time it takes to master the movements is given in service to the Dominant. The journey here is beautiful even if it may be misunderstood. It was my wish that in accompanying my Master anywhere would evoke feelings of jealousy in any man that saw the two of us together.

As a Mistress, I believe that it is my job to devote just as much time to mastering the craft of dominance. Am I worthy of such a devoted submissive if I do not do my part? I can see so many parallels to the "outside" world. Many think that the person in charge can rest and enjoy the fruits of everyone else's labor. I have never felt that way; not personally, not professionally as a supervisor. When one ascends to that level, their responsibility is compounded. You are now responsible for the well-being of others. Being a Mistress should be no different.

Your job, your life, ANYTHING you set your mind to should be done with every bit of your effort. If it's worth your time and worth your effort, should you not give it your all? Perfect your craft, no matter how trivial anyone else thinks it is. And who are you to declare something is beneath you? I have always believed that I cannot lead if I have not first followed. I should look to every source for advice and learn from their experiences. In this way I can become the Journeyman Mistress.

I have many of you to thank for my continuing education. Your lives, laid bare in cyberspace, have given me a great deal of insight into your worlds. Each different, each beautiful in it's own way. I am in awe of some of you. You have taught me to consider whatever a partner brings to the table, opening my mind to whatever foreign proclivity they bring with them. Thank you for that.