Technical difficulties are my BFF! My last recording sounded like it was done next to a cat in a paper bag haha. A few travel days later, I find myself snowed in with ‘framily’ with youngins and unable to record another draft, I decided to share a little in blog form.
The Purge Continues:
I’m still working on my purge of textiles + papers until Solstice (Dec 21st), then I’ll switch my focus. I find honing/ paring down less overwhelming when done in smaller slices so-to-speak. I find it helpful to paper purge before tax season, to both ensure I have the papers I need but also to get less exciting tasks in a good place before the post-holiday slow down and crash.
I struggle with giving up books at this point because 80 percent of my books are references: guides, rarer dictionaries/ translations and one specialty encyclopedia hanging on for dear life haha. I’ve had so many interests over time and like anyone, found myself outgrowing plateaus and the reference books that went with them- and yet it can be a challenge to give up those first books that pulled us in or pushed us deep down the rabbit hole. I find I feel better when I know those books will be enjoyed and used but that can be a trap to hold on to things we don’t need. I managed to get rid of a dozen books or so this round even with this temporary shut down on library holds/ special orders in the province for the last while. I’m behind on my seasonal library binge reading as a result, but managed to finish my copies of Nose Dive, Winter World + a final read through Spagyrics before passing it off to the next reader).
I also managed to find places to recycle plastic dental garbage, old pens/ pencils, ink cartridges, contact lenses and packaging as part of the slow and steady process of lessening the plastics I take in and being more responsible with what I do with plastics (and other specialty garbage) I’m finished with. Other examples of this would be taking responsibility for dead/used lightbulbs, batteries, paint containers, fabric scraps, busted electronics + cords and bits of metal.
The last bits before the holidays will also include some replacing of favourite old pieces of clothing (kinky + otherwise), taking advantage of holiday sales to support a few small businesses but also I find it helps to take an inventory of what I really need before temptation season so I don’t end up wth more novelty t-shirts than I wear on the regular haha.
Improving Systems
I’m still working on this too, again until the holidays essentially: the idea that if the way something is stored or organized isn’t quite working (ex. drawers that make you swear when you try to find things in them, items that fall on you from closets, leaky faucets/ ever running toilets, boxes buried too deep to access, “Sort Me” digital folders). For me personally this year I levelled up how I keep my recipes, certificates and physical papers. After the holidays I’ll be tackling digital files and new backups.
The other thing I tweak when I dip into improving systems pockets is the act of making time for things that aren’t quite making the schedule, like phone calls with friends, fixing objects and running errands. Even a month or two blocking off Tuesday nights for “Fix Shit Tuesdays” helped me catch up on occasionally overwhelming backlogs of “fixits”.
As mentioned in my last audio, I’m doing another round system improving at my studio lessening the amount of plastic containers, making sure items have homes, replacing items that were broken a while ago (canes, wigs, sissy shoes, latex bits), and working on a new outcall/ play party bag (still undecided on which instrument bag to try this time around as while I’ve loved my perky violin case and yoga mat bag over the years I want just a little bit more room for irregularly shaped things.
Kinky Things
Winter has arrived officially: dark mornings, early evenings and a slower pace to look forward to (hopefully) in January + February.
In keeping with winter bondage traditions I’m looking to lean more into extended and complex bondage in the winter months, focussing on dynamic predicament bondage with rope, face bondage and layered bondage with scarves, fabric and burlap that I’ve been setting aside from my textiles purge to play with in one last way. Also still offering “bondage and a movie” for those who thrive on challenges to their attention span or sensory inputs.
I’m also hoping to dive into more invasive medical play in my clinic with new electro toys, sounding rods, suturing and heavy play piercing.
I haven't stopped thinking about ways to incorporate “Texture Q” into play in delightful, filthy and nerve-wracking ways. Similarly, I’ve been inspired by some fantastic “double trouble” situations as of late to expand on the ways I incorporate filth: there are infinite new things to try and experience and I tend to get a fantastic creative boost out of a new experience, whether planned or wonderfully accidental.
I went to an amazing play party at Studio Ludus + Morta for the celebration of quite a few fabulous Birthday, and without giving too much away (for censorship + privacy reasons), I was able to break in my new canes and play with a really great number of sensation sluts, sharing flesh with someone I really love orchestrating shenanigans with. I hope to make it to even more parties this year to play with a little more of an audience. It’s taken me a while to return to public play outside of specific spaces due to the gate-keeping and stigma around professionals in play spaces (online or in-person), which frustrates me and frankly deserves acts of defiance so bring on 2024!
I’m sincerely looking forward to going deeper down the rabbit hole with corporal play, bondage, medical and filth this winter, and am grateful to my experience sluts for their communication, curiousity and their own personal work to be able to open their bodies up to as many sensations as I can layer/ dish out. As many of you already know, I believe hat continuing to hack and experiment with our bodies as we age and change allows us to appreciate more of the little things in life, and to be able to take advantage of the gifts that our “meat sacks” (bodies) still have to give amidst all the other chaos or side quests we may have ahead.
~Aspasia