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CallaFirestormBW -> RE: Lifestyle or not a Lifestyle (11/14/2009 6:51:10 PM)
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Lifestyle = Style of living.
In that sense, for me aspects of BDSM are incorporate in my overall lifestyle. I think the thing that makes the difference for me is the same thing that makes the difference between, say, a lifestyle bodybuilder and someone who does casual weightlifting is how much what you're doing is incorporated in your overall scope of life. If bodybuilding is just an occasional activity you participate in, or only affects the time when you're actually -at- the gym working out, then that isn't a "lifestyle"... it's just an enjoyable hobby. OTOH, if you're fully committed, and you plan your day around your training regimen, and you select what you eat and drink, how you dress, and all of your free time around aspects of your bodybuilding, and it affects most aspects of your life, then that's a bodybuilder 'lifestyle'. The same goes for BDSM-type situations. If you go out to the local leather bar on the weekends and get in some kink, and have a few pieces of clothing and a flogger in the back of the closet, that's not "lifestyle"... that's just enjoying a somewhat less-than-common activity... a hobby. If, on the other hand, your life revolves around dominating or being dominated, for example, and everything from how you dress to when and how you eat to how even the most crucial decisions are made in your life revolve around reinforcing your BDSM-oriented perspectives... then yes, I think it's certainly likely that it has transcended hobby and moved into the realm of lifestyle for that person. Defining the grey area in between... well, I guess that has to be a personal decision depending on one's perspective about one's own life and the role BDSM has within it.
Dame Calla
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