Devotion
Posted by kinkinmotion on Thursday Jan 14, 2010 Under BDSM, D/s, Domination, Mia, Relationships, Service, Submission, sub/slaveChallenges make life interesting, however, overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. – Mark Twain
Life has taken some unanticipated and less than desired turns as of late. There has been heartbreak and revelation, tears and trying moments, pity parties and plain ole bad days. But there’s also been processing and introspection, with a focus on how to do it better next time.
BDSM as a mechanism for personal growth never ceases to amaze me. Didn’t we get into this thing for the sex and the rush? For lots, yep.. that’s why we started. But for many of us it was just a springboard to looking deeper within ourselves to begin defining who we are, what we want, and other such things. Come for the sex, stay for the growth.
I thought I knew what wanted from a submissive, from a partner. Things like control, power, structure, protocol, etc. Those things are still there. But recent developments have made me sit back and wonder, ‘What was missing? Why did things fall apart? What is it I wanted and didn’t know I wanted? What name does it bear?’
The answer came to me much more quickly than I would have expected: Devotion.
Forgetting the religious aspects of the word, the devotion I speak of here is defined as:
| 1. | profound dedication; consecration. |
| 2. | earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc. |
| 3. | an assignment or appropriation to any purpose, cause, etc.: the devotion of one’s wealth and time to scientific advancement. |
Yep, that’s it all right.
For me, this was one of those elementary, foundational ‘this is just how you do it’ kind of things. I assumed anyone who identified as submissive intrinsically felt this, simply because that’s always how I’d viewed it. It’s like teaching someone to wash their hands, you don’t always think to include telling them ‘now use soap..’ because it seems so obvious to you. But again with that self growth thing.. and a big part of that in BDSM and poly dynamics is realizing that we each bring our own histories and thoughts to an experience. Often this means words and concepts do not always mean the same to people as they do to you.
So we have the textbook definition of devotion, now what does that look like in real time and in relation to submission? Here is a part of what it looks like to me:
- To want and desire with a full heart
- To set apart and above all things when practical
- To view or be viewed as special
- To think of that person and their needs and wants before your own a majority of the time and with consistency
- To act in an anticipatory manner so that the needs and wants of the person are met before a request is needed
- To look upon or be looked upon with eyes that are longing and eager to please
- To think of the self last
- To sacrifice personal comfort or wants for the other
- To be dedicated to making sure the other’s needs and desires are met
- To do all that is asked with sincerity and depth
- To perform with grace and enthusiasm for the greater cause
- To be transparent in communication and relaying emotional information
- To place one’s own well being and comfort in the hands of another after great thought and great trust with abandon
- Surrender of one’s will
There are others of course.. but the overall theme here is clear: to place another above yourself from a place of a desire.
Lest it seem I am asking for the moon, I am not unreasonable or entertaining visions of a god complex. If there are practical things like jobs, livelihoods, children, families, primary partners, emergencies, etc.. to be tended to then those should be seen to. But when at all possible, which actually is a goodly portion of the time; I want to be wanted, actively seeken out, to be served with enthusiasm, to have control freely given to me, to have someone be grateful for the effort I expend on them and return it in kind and more. I want someone who is devoted to me and my best interest.
This is how I have always approached a D/s dynamic as a submissive. I thought everyone did it the same way in this regard. Clearly, I needed to define it more. This is how I serve my Dominant. As a Dominant, this is how I want a submissive to serve me. Now that I have a more specific definition of it, I’ll be able to communicate this from the beginning for my next interaction.
New mistakes will be made in any future dynamic I enter into to be sure, but this one will be more easily intergrated I hope.
~kim
Kink In Motion











