A Creed To Live By

The interweb is full of comfy images of fluffy kittens, both verbal and pictorial.

However, I encountered the following piece first when I heard it read, only later tracing its author on the net. At a first glance, it can appear a bit saccharine Christian . But read it again, from the perspective of those of us who are different but caring, who might feel a little bit socially outcast but really want to make like minded friends. These verses offer great comfort for those brave enough to be themselves.

A Creed To Live By
By Nancye Sims

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life, for without them life is meaningless.

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.

Don't give up when you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.
It is this fragile thread that binds us to each other.

Don't be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love.
The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly;
and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don't dismiss your dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without hope;
to be without hope is to be without purpose.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been,
but also where you're going.
Life is not a race,
but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

Copyright © 1996 Nancye Sims

One Year On - Five Years On

Last weekend was the first anniversary of our "coming out" to public playing, at Nimhneach. Coincidentaly, it was also the fifth birthday party of the club itself.

On the way in, I realised that I was quite subdued. I had thrown a few toys together without a lot of thought and most of my anticipation was about meeting a couple of new friends rather than anything particularly Dommy.

There was a good mix of faces, some new, some familiar, at the meet and greet. Unusually, entering that pub held a little frisson of excitement. "Excuse me, what's in the bag?" from the bouncer at the door. Now, I've always been ready, but never been required, to prove to the doorstaff at the club that the contents of my bag was sufficiently kinky to be let in. Here was a sudden turning of the tables. How do I explain that I am not going to start a fight in this Saturday night pub, armed as I am with length of chain, heavy rubber paddle, flogger, handcuffs, rope and other assorted bits and pieces. My murmured "clothes and stuff" seemed to satisfy them and I was spared any great expose in 'nilla land. This was all witnessed by EmmaJane from just inside the door who found my discomfiture highly amusing - ah well, plenty of opportunity to arrange for her public discomfiture later.

I am well aware that there have been visits to Nimhneach in the past year when I was doing the socialising, being recognised and starting to play with others whilst my Bandree was obedient, loyal and being there because she knew that is what I wanted. This night was different. I could sense her self-confidence, but without sacrificing her respect for my role, and that pleased me. This meant that she actually spent more time doing her own socialising and moving around. Despite this, I think we played more scenes together than at any previous Nimhneach.

I enjoyed the opportunity to play the blindfold trust game with Catherine, finishing up with a light spanking on the new chain spider's web. This was curtailed to allow a bit of space for poor Ginny to recover from her little mishap with the adjacent (collapsing) cage.

EmmaJane was later led to the same web for a rather more business like application of a Coventry Canes Loopy. This is a deceptively innocent looking little toy, silent, but quite severe and all sting. In effect, its a piece of basket cane folded back on itself, so two and a half strokes for the effort of one! For EJ, there was the added piquancy of finding herself only a few inches face to face through the web with those queuing for the bar. For a player who normally has her back, and her bottom, facing her audience, this was a new discomfort. I felt pleased with the scene and appreciated EJ's responses. Catherine was later to feel the same loopy, but across my knee.

However, my most intense plays of the night were with bandree. What caught me unawares was that I had not set out with any great gameplan, but as the evening unfolded, and we met as we crisscrossed the club, our play got harder. Bandree is a responsive sub, she squirms, cries ouch, kicks and writhes. Sometimes she feels bad about this believing she should be still and stoic. Several times in the night, I had to reassure her that "Ouch" is not a safeword, and there is no loss of face in a bit of yelping. I had enough peripheral vision to recognise that those who watched us play also appreciated bandree swing her hips in response to a firm whip of my belt. Our later scenes all finished with a glass of water, a long cuddle and a slow surfacing back to sitting upright again.

In between this, my lovely girl made more friends, chatted, played a bit with others and was a general credit to me. The night ended on a much more emotionally intense note than I had anticipated heading in on the bus. I felt very close to my lover, wife and best friend. It was just under a year ago that I made my first blog post describing that first Nimhneach night and the step on the road of our discovery which it represented. Rereading it now, I realise that my bandree chose the same knickers to wear this time. I couldn't have chosen a better way of rounding off our year than the way the night worked out.

PS. Does anyone know if the lovely girl serving behind the bar was a patron who either volunteered or was pressed into service or was she a member of club staff who was entering into the spirit of things. How else can we explain the collar round her neck and the multi-tailed flogger sticking out of her back pocket? Either that or crowd control techniques in Dublin clubland have moved radically forward recently.