Communities

This weekend, Mr. Wonderful signed up for a conference of sorts, where people were getting together to discuss the end of the world as it relates to the Bible, etc. He said he was doing it for research for a book. He was kind enough to get me a room where they were having the conference. So throughout the weekend, I was able to mock him with my bruise, which no longer hurts but is getting more gruesome by the day. I need to stop teasing him before I "tease" myself out of any discipline EVER AGAIN! But this morning, before he returned to the room, I went down to the lobby and stood in line for a free omelet the hotel offered to guests. And I started looking around at the people who were there, most of them from this conference. The main core of the conference seemed to be Jewish (and Mr. Wonderful said there was a significant portion of 1 lecture that discussed how Jesus Christ was not the Messiah, in keeping with Jewish beliefs, etc.), but the conference goers had a wide array of looks to them. There were people who observed the Jewish tradition of wearing the small tassels (Tzitzit) attached to their clothes and some were dressed very modern but still had the tassels. There were women with their heads covered and families where every female member had on a floor length skirt. There were women in jeans and shorts and there were men with long beards and some wore yarmulke. There were clean shaven men with no tassels and naked heads. But they were all there for a common purpose. They all had a common interest. Together, there in that hotel, they created a community.
It immediately made me start thinking of the conventions I go to about twice a year for my 12 step program. People with different forms of my disease, people with different approaches and attitudes, but we share 1 big thing in common and that is our disease. That's a lot to have in common. And having never really been a part of a community before, it makes me feel safe and it makes me feel a part of something bigger than myself. So that led me into thinking of the accounts I've read of the spanking conventions, especially from Todd & Suzy and Ginger. Listening to their stories of seeing (and being spanked by!) people they get to see once or twice a year, the way they describe the happiness and fun that is had, and the fact that these people from all over the country, from all different walks of life again share 1 common thing. Spanking. The entire weekend is just making me appreciate a sense of community whenever I see it. What is the point of life? Mr. Wonderful likes to present these existential conundrums in regular conversation and I think they are starting to get to me!:)
But lately I'm wondering if maybe it's just finding something that makes you feel not so alone. The thing I love most about my 12 step program is how much a part of a community I feel.
I don't know that reading the different blogs on discipline and fetishes is the same as actually interacting with people from the spanking community in person, but in a different way, it does make me feel just a little bit like I'm a part of a community. Dropping someone the occasional email, commenting on a blog post, asking advice from someone 1000 miles away I've never met but whom I feel like I know because I've been reading about their life. It all makes me feel a little less ...alone.
Mr. Wonderful asked if I was planning on attending any spanking or discipline conventions and I said no, unless they hold one three blocks from my house and they have some sort of scholarship program, because truthfully, I would love to meet some of my friends I've made in the past couple months and hug and laugh and discuss common interests and hey, if I get a spanking or two in the process, well I can't really argue with that!