So, went to the London Alternative Market a couple of weekends ago to see what it was like and stayed after for the party. I went with a friend who is in the community and wanted to share the real time stuff with me. (He also really wants to tie me up, but that's another thing...) So, I said I would process the experience and let him know what I was thinking about it all.
The market was fun, and I met some really great people who were ready to chat with someone new to the community. I think if they are like the folks at munches then I wouldn't be intimidated. I still need to visit our local one, but I still also just have worries about being 'outed' in what is a rather small town... one can be lost in London...
The market was about what I expected with some beautiful corsets, a very interesting array of outfits and toys, and I could see it being fun to walk around window shopping with my Dom, choosing toys and imagining scenes together.
I was most interested in the after party and wanted to feel it resonate within, that somehow seeing bdsm in action would make me know that my submission is a deep seated need. But that wasn't the effect. People were afraid that I was overwhelmed by seeing the couples playing, but it wasn't that. Instead I felt a sense of disassociation that rather disturbed me in my lack of interest.
I think I found it all too impersonal. I don't know if it is just that, for me, I feel like my submission is an act of intimacy and the public nature of the play left me cold. Now it was obvious that many of the players were close couples, but I didn't enjoy watching them, or thinking about being flogged in public wasn't something I would want to try. My friend said that when he first went to LAM he felt like he had come home - but me, I felt like it would be only something I want to do at home. Perhaps I would feel much more different if there with my Dom - should I get one again - but as a bystander, I didn't want to see what it was like.
Don't get me wrong, if it suits others that is great. Kink is all about everyone finding what they enjoy, but it didn't feel like something I was moved by. Obviously others were, and it was, at an intellectual level, interesting to see. But it stayed at that level, I didn't feel it in my gut - which I suppose I wanted to feel.
The market was fun, and I met some really great people who were ready to chat with someone new to the community. I think if they are like the folks at munches then I wouldn't be intimidated. I still need to visit our local one, but I still also just have worries about being 'outed' in what is a rather small town... one can be lost in London...
The market was about what I expected with some beautiful corsets, a very interesting array of outfits and toys, and I could see it being fun to walk around window shopping with my Dom, choosing toys and imagining scenes together.
I was most interested in the after party and wanted to feel it resonate within, that somehow seeing bdsm in action would make me know that my submission is a deep seated need. But that wasn't the effect. People were afraid that I was overwhelmed by seeing the couples playing, but it wasn't that. Instead I felt a sense of disassociation that rather disturbed me in my lack of interest.
I think I found it all too impersonal. I don't know if it is just that, for me, I feel like my submission is an act of intimacy and the public nature of the play left me cold. Now it was obvious that many of the players were close couples, but I didn't enjoy watching them, or thinking about being flogged in public wasn't something I would want to try. My friend said that when he first went to LAM he felt like he had come home - but me, I felt like it would be only something I want to do at home. Perhaps I would feel much more different if there with my Dom - should I get one again - but as a bystander, I didn't want to see what it was like.
Don't get me wrong, if it suits others that is great. Kink is all about everyone finding what they enjoy, but it didn't feel like something I was moved by. Obviously others were, and it was, at an intellectual level, interesting to see. But it stayed at that level, I didn't feel it in my gut - which I suppose I wanted to feel.
