PrincessWhip wrote:
In your writing, have you ever thought along the lines of primary, secondary, tertiary people around you in BDSM? I have many people that I speak to, some I’ve played with, most I haven’t, some just want to support and be friends. I’m starting to think about BDSM and tool development for education, maybe for self reflection, do you know of any that exist?
I think in terms of fluidity within this journey that we’re all on, don’t rank the people around me in gold, silver, bronze, but I do think about people being anchors and nesting partners etc
Yes, that's more or less how I view and approach things. BDSM should always be about education and self reflection, especially when you're not in a relationship. That's the time to learn and reflect so that your next one will be better.
As far as primary/secondary or anchor/nesting.. I think that depends on your relationship style. Those are certainly terms I identify with in poly, but that structure may not be the same for everyone. My ideal poly situation is a nesting primary partner, with both of us having satellite partners that we play with casually, but openly and sharing details and social interaction. I'm open to threesomes or other sharing within the polycule, but it's not something that's needed. My only real standard there is that everyone me and my primary partner play with should be able to get together socially and enjoy each other as friends and people. I would be uncomfortable with my partner dating someone that I didn't respect and think made her a better person, and would hope that she would feel the same.
In my quest for that ideal, I simply look for interesting, smart people and get to know them more via chat. I do the same when I date vanilla. I actually stopped dating vanilla because I kept meeting awesome folks who weren't compatible romantically but turned out to be awesome new friends. After about the 4th one like that, I realized that I couldn't keep up with any more new friendships. But now, I've got 4 awesome smart women that I can call up for coffee, drinks, dinner and/or hang out with, who all know I'm kinky and poly. It's awesome to have that kind of support when dating, and talking to that many women who are actively dating really opens your eyes as a man about what women put up with on a daily basis in the dating world. Their experiences and advice really helped me move forward in my romantic relationships, and I couldn't have done it without them.
TL:DR? Get to know the interesting ones, and take the time to listen and learn from them. Worst case scenario, you learn more about yourself and others, and make some great friends. Best case, a friendship slowly blossoms into something much more intimate and special.