The development of the internet has done simply amazing things for the bdsm community, and of course for individuals interested in bdsm. I remember a time in which it was hard to find good, factual information about bdsm, a time when that information had to be sought out with what seemed to be great effort.
Today an overwhelming wealth of information is available to everyone, virtually no effort required. Online one can find people to play with, and learn to play safely. Equally important one can learn techniques and ideas for ensuring that the play reaches heights of maximum enjoyment.
Information used to be a barrier to becoming involved with bdsm, to my mind that barrier collapsed first as the internet grew, and books were published. The second large barrier was in the difficulty of finding others who shared ones interests, others with whom one could play. I don’t think that barrier exists any longer either.
Bdsm is now mainstream to the point that anyone can learn about it, anyone can educate themselves as to how to do it, and anyone can find others who share their particular interests.
With that in mind, I ask myself, where do we go next? What is on the horizon for those of us who make bdsm a major part of our lives?
S/m raises tremendous amounts of energy easily. S/m allows us to achieve altered states of consciousness regularly. S/m can bring out hidden or buried aspects of ourselves. S/m can become a deeply spiritual practice.
I think that we will learn how to direct the energy S/m builds. Direct it for inner change, self-growth. I don’t think we will stop there though, I think that some will learn to direct it for the manifestation of desired change within the outside world as well. The possibilities in this area are truly endless.
I think that we will learn how to use the altered states of consciousness we achieve in order to facilitate the direction of energy mentioned above. That the energy we raise is easier to direct towards a goal when we are in an altered state, and that we will learn to blend these two benefits of intense S/m together. I think that the achievement of altered states of consciousness, when those states reach a certain depth, can become life-changing experiences.
I think that we will learn how to heal others and ourselves through the practice of S/m. Heal others and ourselves emotionally and spiritually. Equally important, I think that we will learn how to use S/m to maintain spiritual and emotional health both in ourselves, and within those around us.
Lastly, I think that for many bdsm will become a regular and acknowledged part of spiritual practice, that bdsm activities will become, for some people, religious activities. Bdsm will be understood to be a pathway to the divine.
People are doing all of these things right now. Their practices, what they are learning can be found online, indeed can now be found in published books. I don’t think that any of these things have reached widespread understanding yet though. They will, and just as available information about bdsm exploded in a very short time frame, so will information about these aspects of S/m explode. That will be, to my mind, an amazingly positive development.