Christmas Spirit In the Kink Community
During this holiday season, we’re all generally swamped with bills, shopping for presents, donations to charities, office parties, Polly-Annas, Secret Santas, decorating the house, minding the kids during holiday break…and the list goes on.
I’ve personally blown through two full paychecks, for family presents, Secret Santas, Polly-Annas, house decorations, and gas to and from stores and stupid office parties.
I’d just like to take a second to ask that you remember the kink community during this holiday. Not in a “lets have a Christmas play party!” way, or a “let’s do a seasonal canned food drive wearing leather!” kind of way. Try to remember our community in the spirit of the holiday – giving and loving.
There are a LOT of canned food drives already going on (and feel free to help them, they’re always in need). There are also a lot of charities, and I particularly suggest supporting the Marine Corp’s “Toys for Tots”, in your vanilla life. For us the holiday should be about giving, but for children the holiday is about joy and receiving – and many children go without that joy during the holidays. http://www.toysfortots.org/
But this time I’m talking about our community, specifically. Take a little time and think about what this holiday means to you. It shouldn’t be gifts, or stores, or even a big dinner with your family. This holiday is about the joy of new beginnings. Rebirth, good will, and peace.
Yes, I am about to create a link between Christianity, Pagan religion, and BDSM. Just hold onto your disbelief for a sec, we’re getting there.
Whether you follow the pagan or the Christian tradition, this time of year is about the ending of the old, and the beginning of the new. Though Spring is about the culmination of the birth of new life, Christmas and Midwinter Solstice are about the height of the end, and the beginning of something new. In Christianity, this is the time of the birth of our Lord, and the beginning of new life for all of Christendom.
Many of you may know, from reading my blog or meeting me in person, that I’m a Catholic. For us, we’re compelled (by the spirit, if not by Father’s sermons) to commit ourselves to an act of renewal at this time of year – and to giving a gift to someone less fortunate than ourselves.
We commit to renew ourselves, as we believe the world was given new life with the birth of a single child. And we give a gift (something that didn’t come with a price tag, to stick it to those evil Wal-Mart people) to someone less fortunate, as the three wise men of our legend followed a star and brought Frankincense, Myrrh and Gold to a manger.
(By the way – Frankincense and Myrrh are two of my favorite scents. They rock. Yes, I’m weird. )
This holiday season, I’m spreading the gift of knowledge – and I hope you will too. Within our own community there are so many young people who have absolutely no (EDITED)-ing clue what they are doing, and often find themselves burned out, lost, hurt or worse…raped and abused.
This year, give to your community by sharing what you know, and what you’ve learned, with someone new. Take them to coffee and talk to them about safety in our scene, about negotiations and about how to find a safe partner. Give them an anonymous gift of one of the better books on safety or play party rules, or the BDSM 101’s. Contact NLA-I’s DV project and volunteer hours to help those who have already been victimized in our scene.
We’re a community that is united by being misunderstood and often feared by people who don’t know us. We spend a lot of time turning outwards and trying to make ourselves seem less scary by doing good works for other groups.
This time of year – do some good works for your own community. Maybe that will finally start making a difference in how people see us. And even if it doesn’t – it might make a difference in how we see ourselves.
I’ve personally blown through two full paychecks, for family presents, Secret Santas, Polly-Annas, house decorations, and gas to and from stores and stupid office parties.
I’d just like to take a second to ask that you remember the kink community during this holiday. Not in a “lets have a Christmas play party!” way, or a “let’s do a seasonal canned food drive wearing leather!” kind of way. Try to remember our community in the spirit of the holiday – giving and loving.
There are a LOT of canned food drives already going on (and feel free to help them, they’re always in need). There are also a lot of charities, and I particularly suggest supporting the Marine Corp’s “Toys for Tots”, in your vanilla life. For us the holiday should be about giving, but for children the holiday is about joy and receiving – and many children go without that joy during the holidays. http://www.toysfortots.org/
But this time I’m talking about our community, specifically. Take a little time and think about what this holiday means to you. It shouldn’t be gifts, or stores, or even a big dinner with your family. This holiday is about the joy of new beginnings. Rebirth, good will, and peace.
Yes, I am about to create a link between Christianity, Pagan religion, and BDSM. Just hold onto your disbelief for a sec, we’re getting there.
Whether you follow the pagan or the Christian tradition, this time of year is about the ending of the old, and the beginning of the new. Though Spring is about the culmination of the birth of new life, Christmas and Midwinter Solstice are about the height of the end, and the beginning of something new. In Christianity, this is the time of the birth of our Lord, and the beginning of new life for all of Christendom.
Many of you may know, from reading my blog or meeting me in person, that I’m a Catholic. For us, we’re compelled (by the spirit, if not by Father’s sermons) to commit ourselves to an act of renewal at this time of year – and to giving a gift to someone less fortunate than ourselves.
We commit to renew ourselves, as we believe the world was given new life with the birth of a single child. And we give a gift (something that didn’t come with a price tag, to stick it to those evil Wal-Mart people) to someone less fortunate, as the three wise men of our legend followed a star and brought Frankincense, Myrrh and Gold to a manger.
(By the way – Frankincense and Myrrh are two of my favorite scents. They rock. Yes, I’m weird. )
This holiday season, I’m spreading the gift of knowledge – and I hope you will too. Within our own community there are so many young people who have absolutely no (EDITED)-ing clue what they are doing, and often find themselves burned out, lost, hurt or worse…raped and abused.
This year, give to your community by sharing what you know, and what you’ve learned, with someone new. Take them to coffee and talk to them about safety in our scene, about negotiations and about how to find a safe partner. Give them an anonymous gift of one of the better books on safety or play party rules, or the BDSM 101’s. Contact NLA-I’s DV project and volunteer hours to help those who have already been victimized in our scene.
We’re a community that is united by being misunderstood and often feared by people who don’t know us. We spend a lot of time turning outwards and trying to make ourselves seem less scary by doing good works for other groups.
This time of year – do some good works for your own community. Maybe that will finally start making a difference in how people see us. And even if it doesn’t – it might make a difference in how we see ourselves.
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