:: Edgeliving: Master Jim and slave marsha ::

:: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 ::

Got rules? Yes, Master Jim’s Golden Rule - Obey

I cannot count the times that slave marsha has asked me after I have given her a directive… is that a rule, Sir? My most common response is: No, that is not a rule, I have simply given you an order that I wish carried out. I may want you to respond differently next time. Those “101 slave rules” -- actually, if slaves had their way there would be 1001 rules -- do not exist for me. Without question, specific rules that guide behavior and actions would make life simpler for the slave. They would provide a behavioral blueprint that would permit the slave to always, or at least most of the time, be in compliance with the wishes of the Owner. While it is not my purpose to make obedience difficult for my slave or to create situations where she will often fail, neither is it my purpose to make life as easy for her as possible.

I don’t like a lot of rules. They box me in, reduce my flexibility, and push me toward being a micro-manager. I detest micro-management both in my M/s and professional lives. I have elected to structure my Master/slave relationship around one simple concept -- you might call it Master Jim’s Golden Rule. That rule is simply … Obey. In order to obey, unless otherwise instructed, slave marsha always has to be available for service.

As a supplement to the Golden Rule, I do have certain behavioral rules that slave marsha follows pertaining to her daily life and how she is to serve me, but those rules are not excessive. Furthermore, those rules can be, and are, changed from time to time. So if I am not enamored with rules, what do I have? Instead of having a rule-based M/s relationship, I have one that is concept-based. In addition to obedience, some of the concepts that guide my M/s relationship are control, ethical ownership, responsibility, protocol, and internalization. These and other concepts combine with my philosophy of direction, discipline, and service to provide the framework for a dynamic, growing, and ever-changing M/s relationship.

So, there is no do-not-use-the-cell-phone-in-the-baggage-claim-area rule. If there was such a rule, there would also have to be a do-use-the-cell-phone- or always-ask-permission-to-use-the-cell-phone rule. One can see how quickly and exponentially these rules would multiply and not only would I have to identify the rules, I would have to remember them all in order to enforce them. Instead, I have a slave who will from time-to-time be unsuccessful in her service, not because she is breaking a rule, but because she is not available to serve.

As slave marsha said, “slavery isn’t about following rules.” And I will say that Mastery is not about making and enforcing rules. Both Mastery and slavery are about internalizing who and what you are in order to become one with your Mastery or your slavery. If both can accomplish that internalization, then the Master will control and the slave will obey.

It is as simple and as complex as that.

In leather,
Master Jim

:: 5:26 PM [+] ::
...