Because you see your Dom once a week (if I'm reading right), how do you get yourself in the mindset and stay in your mind set for your sessions? I'm struggling with this, and would love some advice. ~His Slut
I've gone and looked at your blog and it seems you don't have a fixed day (?) to see your Dom? Also, I'm not sure what kind of relationship you have with him, and how long you've been together so I can't really offer suggestions or useful things-to-tell-yourself. I can only tell you what I know from my side of the fence, and hope you'll find at least SOME bits of it useful :)
Schedules / Rituals
I see BIKSS twice a week. It may not be much, but we make the time count. This doesn't stress me out too much because I'm a creature of habit. I have routines, I make plans, I am borderline OCD (or OCPD according to Wikipedia) and am usually most comfortable when I know stuff in advance.
In the early days it used to drive me insane not knowing if we were meeting up that evening, or the next day, and it hampered my ability to make plans with my friends. After all, I'd much rather be hanging out with BIKSS than just sitting around a cafe having chai latte with a pal, ya know?
So when we DID meet, sometimes it was really hard for me to turn off the control-freak-teacher-in-command and get my mind into the right space. On my part, once I knew we would be meeting that evening, I would get ready by doing my hair in a ponytail, wear the perfume he liked, and made sure I was freshly shaven. These "before-meeting" rituals helped me get into sub mode. Sometimes it was strange cos I'd get ready BEFORE going to work as I would be meeting him right after I got done, so it was like a half and half. I'd get ready in sub-mode, but then at work I would be teacherzilla, and then have to quickly get back into sub mode while waiting for him to pick me up.
In a way, having a scent that I associate with BIKSS helps, because the physical reminders help shape the mindset. (You've heard about how a person who's unhappy could change the way they feel simply by first forcing the appearance of happiness? Laughing, smiling, etc... The feelings will flow to match the physical actions.)
There were other rituals too. Upon meeting I would kiss his hand, and him, as soon as possible - one or both were not always immediately possible cos he might be driving, we'd be out in public etc. If he came to pick me up then it wasn't a problem. He'd often place his hand on my thigh, and if I'm wearing a skirt he'll let his fingers wander up towards my pussy. It may sound a little vulgar to some but there's nothing like a Dom immediately reaching for your "private" parts to immediately remind you that you belong to him - ALL of you. I'm sure the purpose of his doing so wasn't explicitly to help get me back into the mindset, but it worked all the same.
It didn't shock me into being defensive or immediately putting up barriers because BIKSS was never gruff or overtly aggressive. His gestures and instructions always came across as gentle and coaxing. "You know you want to because it will please me" was more the order of the day than "Do it or else". So it was relatively easy for me to flow back into submissive mode.
Keeping Busy but Staying in Touch
When I'm not with BIKSS I'm busy with other stuff - work, which takes up about 60% of my energy. Half of that is spent in a school and the other half is freelance. So when I'm in school I'm kept occupied with colleagues - we have meals together and plan movie dates and dinner parties. I'm also helping a best friend with her new business so I do a lot of writing for her. That keeps me kinda occupied when I'm at home. Then there's housework - my floor is spotless and I hate clutter. So I'm pottering about my little apartment all the bluddy time in cleanup mode. And when I'm NOT doing that, I'm baking. I like baking stuff and trying out new (easy) recipes.
It's also hard to miss him too much or slink out of sub-mode 100% when the man is readily available to text / IM. I'm lucky that way. I see a lot of part time D/s couples (I mean part time as in they are not living together, not that they aren't D/s with each other all the time) who don't get the opportunity to chat on a regular basis. I suspect it makes a big difference when I can text Daddy and tell him I'm missing him, and his pussy is missing him, and he can text back almost immediately and tell me to go have a cum and send him pics. OR when we say goodnight and he tells me to show him my nipples (his girls, he calls 'em) so he'll go to bed with lovely images in his mind. AND the best part is when I'm back home and text him to say I'm in the shower (so I'll be a little while more before getting on Skype), and half the time his answer to that will be "Prove it."
A sub gets to keep the mindset rather easily this way, since there are constant reminders from her Dom that she belongs to him. That even little things like taking a shower or settling into bed can be made into D/s moments. Thank goodness for smartphones and built-in cameras, I say.
In the past it wasn't this way. I didn't feel "connected" to him enough. I would throw raging, ok, hissy, fits cos BIKSS wouldn't be forthcoming in sharing his movements and whereabouts with me. Am I asking too much? Is it NOT my place to expect him to "report" to me? First, I call OCPD. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
OCPD is a chronic non-adaptive pattern of extreme perfectionism, preoccupation with neatness and detail, and a need for control or power over one's environment that causes major suffering and stress, especially in areas of personal relationships. (It) is a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, mental and interpersonal control at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency.
And now that my defence is in place, I may carry on. It isn't that I want BIKSS to report his every movement to me. It's just that it helps me remain close and connected to him in a way that helps me feel less stressed out and therefore less likely to put up my "Fine, don't tell me, see if I care" walls. *I'm cringing writing this cos it was actually the way I thought in the early days!*
and Earning my Trust
I'm lucky that BIKSS has known me as long as he has, and he knows all the crap I've gone thru with my exes in my sordid past. So he understands my need to know, to feel safe, to be reassured, to feel secure. I've been hurt TOO many times in the past, taken advantage of, sexually abused? well, if you want to put it that way, then yes, I suppose that too. There is an insane train of thought running thru my brain that I'm not worth it. Not worth the time. Not worth the love and effort. Not worth anyone's affection. He's trying to stop that train and put it out of service for good. But it's a long process and I'm only just starting to believe that I AM worth it. All of it.
The way I used to function was - if i don't know where you are and what you're doing, maybe you'll just disappear and never come back. Crazy, I know. But true. And it's a secret so you can't tell anyone alright?? But yeah, he knew this and so he made an effort to keep me in the loop so I would learn that he's not going anywhere. Oh he must have said this a million times by now. I'm only starting to believe it a leeeeeddle bit. But I'm getting there. *LOL*
Oh, and then when I'm convinced they'll leave me as soon as they can, I turn into a class A biatch. Self-sabotage? It's like I would rather that I gave them a reason to leave, instead of because I just wasn't worth it. It was also a way to test them I suppose, can you take me? Can you take this? BIKSS did. Oh he took it and he crushed it up and he chucked it in the bin, then he said "Now look here, I'm not leaving, I'm in charge, and this is going to stop."
It's the Big Picture
And why am I going on and on about this? Easy. The way the relationship as a whole evolved, I learnt to trust him more, and my desire to please and serve him grew as well, in direct proportion to how I felt his love for me grow too. So really, in a way I don't EVER get out of my sub mindset now. The relationship developed in a way that made it possible for me to think of myself as submissive and subservient to him all the time, except for when I have to put it aside for the duration of the time I'm actually WITH a student. I think of the sub me as the default me now, and teacherzilla as the mask. In the past I think it was the other way around. Hmph. This is kinda news to me too - thanks for giving me the opportunity to realise this about myself.
I asked BIKSS just a couple of days ago, if he thinks I'm submissive all the time or just in the bedroom, and he said - mostly in the bedroom cos there hasn't been much reason for me to "have" to be submissive when we're out and about. But that he can still see that spark of feistiness in my eyes. I asked him if he would prefer I work on quelling that or leave it be... and his answer came almost immediately. LEAVE IT.
But the outcome of further conversation on this topic revealed that there wasn't much opportunity for me to "show" my submission outside of the bedroom because there haven't been any hiccups - possibly because in the first place, I'm in my sub mindset already. I'm never rude to him, and even in teasing if I've gone a little too far I apologise straight away - he has a higher threshold for this than I do tho, sometimes I'll feel bad and say I'm sorry and he'll look at me strange, wondering what in the world I'm sorry for. Then I have to explain that I said this and that and it was kinda rude and I went too far, and it'll turn out that he didn't think so at all.
When we do eat together at home I relish preparing food, and serving him dinner, getting the wine glasses out, and I always try to have a dessert ready. The man loves his food. When we eat out, I'll let him order for me, but if we're at the food centre near my place where I'm more familiar with the fare, he'll let me run off and buy my favourites!
When I'm dawdling he'll give me sharp one on the butt to get me into the shower pronto, but when I'm set on putting things away he'll let me have my 10 minutes to get everything back in its place so that I can relax properly with him after. He understands what I need to be a settled, stable sub, and he gives me every opportunity to be the best version of me I can be to him.
Finally, a Conclusion
Ok, so the point, in a nutshell, really is this - keeping the sub mindset, I feel, comes with time and growing together in a relationship. A large part is the sub's willingness and determination to do so, and to put aside her OTHER self, but the Dom really is very instrumental in helping her get there too. He can expect her to be super-sub at the snap of his fingers, and I suppose it is within his right to do so, but he can also help his sub to transition more easily with specific gestures, well-timed words, and consistent behaviour. And the easier the transition becomes, the less distinct the line between sub and non-sub is.
I'm not sure if this helped you any, but it sure gave me tons to think about and an opportunity to reflect on my own relationship and submission. So thank you for your question! Do feel free to ask more.