:: Edgeliving: Master Jim and slave marsha ::

:: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 ::

And now, for a brief commercial annoucnement....

As many readers of this website know, I and slave marsha, along with Mark Fraizer, are co-owners and producers of South Plains Leatherfest. We hope that our readers will consider attending the event. The most recent event press release may be found below.

In leather,

Master Jim

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South Plains Leatherfest – Dallas, Texas
You heard about it last year, don’t miss it this year!
February 27-February 29, 2004


Whether you are interested in Master/slave relationships or advanced SM technique – or both – you’ll find education and excitement at South Plains Leatherfest (www.southplainsleatherfest.com), to be held in Dallas, Texas on February 27 – February 29, 2004.

Once again, South Plains offers two seminar “tracks” featuring some of the community’s best-known presenters on Master/slave relationships and advanced SM techniques. Presenters for the M/s Track include Laura Antoniou, Vi Johnson, Jack Rinella, Jack M, Master Skip, Master Jim and slave marsha, Master Steve Sampson and slave kirk, and Lady Catherine. The M/s Track also includes several “intensives” – smaller sessions designed to encourage discussion of the real life issues that go with identifying as a Master or a slave.

The Leather/SM Track presents skilled and experienced instructors leading advanced workshops on a variety of SM techniques. Presenters for the Leather/SM Track include Brian Dawson, Lolita Wolf, Midori, Tristan Taormino, Frank Strona, Sharrin Spector, Rich Dockter and Brian, and Mr. Kevin.

South Plains Leatherfest 2004 proudly continues the tradition of the Mr. and Ms. South Plains Leather Contest on Friday evening and the International Master and slave Contest on Saturday evening. While the International Master/slave title was produced last year by SPLF, this will be the first year the title is both owned and produced by the owners of SPLF. Glenda Rider and Graylin Thorton will co-emcee the Mr. and Ms. SPLF and the IM/s contests. Applications for both contests can be found at the South Plains website.

Early registration for South Plains Leatherfest is only $69 until January 30, 2004 and includes admission to the seminars, contests, and the vendor fair. A Sunday morning brunch is available at an additional cost. Registration forms can be found at the South Plains website. Registration will be capped, so please register early.

The host hotel for South Plains is the newly renovated Sheraton on Mockingbird Lane. The Sheraton is offering an outstanding room rate of only $59 per night for up to 4 people, if reservations are made before February 7, 2004. (Please call 214.630.7000 and mention South Plains Leatherfest to get the event rate.) We except the hotel to be full, so early reservations are strongly encouraged.

For additional information, please contact any of the co-owners of South Plains Leatherfest: Mark Frazier (Lhang@aol.com), Master Jim (mstr_jm@hotmail.com) or slave marsha (marshaslave@hotmail.com). Don’t miss what promises to be an even better SPLF than 2003!

:: 7:12 PM [+] ::
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Walking the Deer Path


“The trail is hard and dark… Yet leads to a clearing where others have rested before you. See, their bodies bent the grass.” *

I want complete mastery, complete control, and complete obedience. Nothing less will do. Do I and my slave stand alone in what we seek? Is my conception of Mastery and slavery so extreme that no one else seeks similar goals? Is the desire for complete mastery, control, and obedience so unattainable that no one else is foolish enough to try? I think not.

There is no question that the trail is arduous, but as you travel the path you come upon clearings where there is evidence that other have come this way before. As you leave the darkness of the path and enter the sunlit clearing where a cold mountain stream bubbles and offers to quench your thirst and soft leaves beckon your weary body to rest, a sense of peace and contentment comes over you. You have come to another safe place on the road. Looking around you see evidence of fellow travelers: a small disruption in the pattern of fallen leaves or a fading footprint at the edge of the stream. Realizing that you are not alone gives you renewed energy and strength, even if you do not know your fellow travelers.

For some of you, this blog may serve as a clearing along your path. For others, the clearing may be found through the meetings or formation of a local MAsT chapter, attending a seminar at a leather event, reading an article or book that discusses M/s, participating in a weekend retreat with other Master/slave pairs, or spending time in the home of another Master and slave. Perhaps it is all or some combination of these and other things that are the clearing for you. Whatever form a clearing may take for you, the important point is that there are clearings and those clearings have been visited by others before yourself.

Seek out those clearings, find others who are of a like mind, develop contacts with those who like you walk the path of Master and slavery. Even if you are an extremely private person, as I am, recognize that some contact with others who are also on this journey can offer you needed support when the darkness settles back in. You do not have to do this alone. Even though your path will be unique, others can help you refine, affirm, or even redefine your approach to Mastery and slavery. Find the clearings, rest and replenish your body, mind, and spirit.

In leather,
Master Jim

* For the full text of "The Deer Path," see slave marsha's September 28, 2003 post.

:: 4:24 PM [+] ::
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On Being slave marsha

“Be the slave.”

Master Jim says that’s the answer. And as He also often says, it’s as simple and as complex as that.

“Be the slave.”

i am a slave. From time to time, someone decides to argue the point with me, on the grounds that slavery is illegal in the U.S., or that the law wouldn’t bring me back to Master Jim if i chose to walk away. Of course i know that both of those things are true – i’m not delusional. But i also know that i don’t look to the law to define every aspect of my reality.

So why don’t I always feel like a slave? And does it matter?

i was raised in the Southern Baptist Church. (For anyone reading this who was or is Southern Baptist, i bet we now have a very good understanding of each other’s mindset. In some ways, once a Southern Baptist, always a Southern Baptist.) For those of you who aren’t familiar with the denomination, the core principle is that you need to have a personal relationship with Christ – you need to be “saved.” With salvation comes a fundamental change in who you are. From that point on, your life is (or should be) devoted to Christ.

Nearly everyone in my church youth group professed to be “saved.” Most of us had been coming to church since we were in diapers – how could we be otherwise? Nevertheless, i remember well hearing the members of my youth group say, from time to time, that they didn’t feel like a Christian. Such a statement was tantamount to a confession of being “backslidden” – not a good thing in a Southern Baptist church -- and necessitated the immediate formation of a prayer circle. Always, there was much debate over whether such a feeling simply meant the backslider needed to recommit his or her life to Christ or whether it might indicate that he or she never really was “saved” in the first place.

One hot summer, after a number of the youth group suffered from this malady (putting more than a little strain on the prayer chain), our youth group leader decided he needed to address this whole issue of our “feelings.” He told us that our “feelings” were just that – feelings, and not reality. As Christians, we would continue to experience the whole range of human feelings – including doubt about who and what we were. And if we had accepted Christ, not one of those feelings would change the fact that we were saved. Then he suggested we all go out for ice cream. (Which, of course, soothes a multitude of feelings when you’re a teenager.)

What does this have to do with slavery? i think it’s this -- some days, i feel like a slave and some days… i don’t. It doesn’t change the reality that i’ve chosen to turn over control of my life to Master Jim and that i’ve promised to obey and serve Him. It may make it more difficult for me to obey and serve with the right heart when i don’t feel my slavery, but it doesn’t negate my reality.

And now, for my own confession. Today, right this minute, i don’t feel much like a slave. i hate this feeling.

The feeling will pass. It always does. i’ll try to find some time in the day to examine why I feel this way because understanding the “why” always helps me with the “what to do.” Maybe I’ll make an extra effort to look for opportunities to serve Master Jim today –i’ve found that when i have this feeling, if i make myself act like a slave, i often suddenly realize that once again, i have found my slave identity. Master Jim and i are presenting at an event this weekend, and being around others in the community helps the feeling to pass. Most of all, Master Jim always helps me, by talking with me, by having me kneel, and most of all, simply by being there. By being my Owner and demonstrating it in everything He does.

But for right now… i don’t feel like a slave. Yet i know i am.

i will be the slave.

--slave marsha

:: 2:33 PM [+] ::
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To Be or Not To Be, That Is the Question… But What’s the Answer?

I was in the Dallas Eagle one night when I was approached by a man who asked me,

“Sir, I am a boy. How can I find a Sir?”

To be honest, I was not in the mood to engage this man in a long conversation about what I saw as the key characteristics of a boy and how a boy might go about finding a Sir. After all, it was the Eagle, it was Saturday night, and I had one or two other things on my mind. But after asking him a few basic questions about what he hoped to find, I looked him in the eye, reached out and touched his bare chest, and said…

“Be the boy.”

I was not trying to be flip or dismissive in my short statement. But I also did not realize the full import of what I had said until later.

“Be the boy.”
“Be the Master.”
“Be the slave.”

Those few words, I believe, contain a critically important message.

Be who you are, be true to yourself, and eventually, all else will fall into place.

It seems so obvious. In order to be a boy, a Master, or a slave, that indeed must be who you are. Nevertheless, in my opinion, many in the leather community assume a role they think is hot or cool – whether or not that is truly who they are. People play at Mastery or slavery. While this may work in a scene or for a weekend, in the long run, and more likely in the short run, the assumed façade will melt away. Many people who have entered into Master/slave relationships without stopping to discover whether they or their counterpart really are Masters or a slaves have learned the truth of this, to their sorrow.

Being who you are does not presuppose or require experience. Being who you are does not mean that you have been given a magic key to living happily ever after. Being who you are does not mean that you have wisdom known only to a few. Being who you are, however, does mean that you are truthful with yourself and that you are willing to look inside yourself and discover who you are.

When you engage in this self-examination and discover a slave or Master within, then be that person. Embrace Mastery or slavery. Welcome it into your life. Celebrate who you are. Live as a Master or live as a slave to the best of your ability.

In other words, be.

That is the answer.

In leather,
Master Jim

:: 2:52 PM [+] ::
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