slavery is/not

• slavery is not about suffering . . .
  . . . slavery is about service.
• slavery is not about humiliation . . .
  . . . slavery is about humility.
• slavery is not about pain . . .
  . . . slavery is about being present.
• slavery is not about being used . . .
  . . . slavery is about being of use.
• slavery is not about control . . .
  . . . slavery is about letting go.
• slavery is not about what is done to you . . .
  . . . slavery is about what you do for others.
• . . . slavery is about acceptance.
• slavery is not about proving anything . . .
  . . . slavery is about being real.
• slavery is not about contempt . . .
  . . . slavery is about respect.
• slavery is not about how you look . . .
  . . . slavery is about how much you care.
• slavery is not about denying yourself . . .
  . . . slavery is about being open.
• slavery is not about bondage . . .
  . . . slavery is about freeing your spirit.
• slavery is not about punishment . . .
  . . . slavery is about discipline.
• slavery is not about being unable to escape . . .
  . . . slavery is about being committed.
• slavery is not about submission . . .
  . . . slavery is about obedience.
• slavery is not about fear . . .
  . . . slavery is about trust.
• slavery is not about sex . . .
  . . . slavery is about love.
• slavery is not about pleasure . . .
  . . . slavery is about happiness.

Copyright 1998 by david stein (gorgik@aol.com) ; author’s note updated April 2003. Permission is hereby freely granted for not-for-profit reprinting or reposting as long as the author’s name and e-mail address are included at the end. The original version of this piece was written on Monday morning, October 26, 1998, shortly before i flew home to New York following a week of service with Master Steve Sampson in Palm Springs, CA, where He then lived. That morning, i posted it to the gl-subs list, and a few days later i posted a revised version to gl-asb, AOL’s Leather onQ boards, the soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm newsgroup, and elsewhere. A still later version, very close to the one here, was posted on Master Steve’s site (no longer available) , SlaveMaster’s site , and a few other Web pages and was subsequently published in the newsletter of GMSMA , Lolita’s P&P list , and elsewhere. Since then, it has become one of my most requested pieces and is now available on dozens of Web sites. It makes me happy to know that my words strike a sympathetic chord in so many other hearts.

—with respect, slave david