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When someone says they are powerful, or that they have power, or that they are exchanging power... what is really meant?  What power?  Is it just some warm fuzzy feel-good proclamation intended to make someone or specific groups of people feel good about who they are?  Is it based on something tangible, on merit of some kind perhaps?  Is it something people say simply because it sounds good?  Were they awarded a certificate for it?  How many who discuss it can also define it?

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ORIGINAL: julietsierra

I find that power, much like intelligence is most often found in those who have no need to flaunt it, and the more one declares "I AM!!" the less often they are.

juliet

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I am sex personified, wrapped in a shell of class. I can light up a room with my presence, causing men to lust after me and women to want to be me. I can charm crowds with clever wit and stylish grace... and stun the observant with rare insight and profound wisdom.

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ORIGINAL: julietsierra
I find that power, much like intelligence is most often found in those who have no need to flaunt it, and the more one declares "I AM!!" the less often they are.

juliet

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happypervert
There is a difference between power and delusions of grandeur, and confidence is great but being blindly egotistical isn't. You should consider the possibility that you have been victimized by that phony southern charm y'all call decorum down there, and just like in Gone With The Wind your so called admirers may flatter you to your face and then ridicule you behind your back. As one who plays that game so well you should see it when it is being played on you because it can be folly if you let it go to your head.

That can result  in one becoming marginalized, and instead of having the broad scope of power and influence as you'd like to believe your power becomes limited to a select group of like minded individuals. Of course, that happens to some extent anyway as folks gravitate toward others like them, but at least they don't unintentionally alienate others by being so overconfident they act like asses while falsely believing they are charming a world of admirers. That's why humility is useful as a self-imposed reality check, and I believe it can be the source of even greater power.

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ORIGINAL: Padriag

Fast reply to no one in particular.

You remind me of the babe.
What babe?
The babe with the power.
What power?
The power of voodoo.
Who do?
You do.
Do what?
Remind me of the babe.


Upon reading this thread, that was ironically the first thing that sprang to mind (yes, my mind works in weird ways sometimes [;)]).  As I pondered both what I'd read in this thread and what some part of my subconscious was apparently trying to tell me with the above bit, I eventually came to ask a question.

What power?

I see threads like this every now and then.  Sometimes posted by submissives, sometimes by dominants, sometimes its on a non lifestyle site posted by someone wrestling with that same basic question (I am woman, hear me roar.... I am a modern man, hear me roar... I am a (insert nationality, creed, religion, political group, etc.), hear me roar).  Regardless of who it is, as I think about it, the one question I find myself asking of them all is simply...

What power?

When someone says they are powerful, or that they have power, or that they are exchanging power... what is really meant?  What power?  Is it just some warm fuzzy feel-good proclamation intended to make someone or specific groups of people feel good about who they are?  Is it based on something tangible, on merit of some kind perhaps?  Is it something people say simply because it sounds good?  Were they awarded a certificate for it?  How many who discuss it can also define it?  If you believe you are powerful... what does that mean in practical, definable, specific terms?  What power?  And of what real value (if any) is that power? 

How can anyone say they or anyone else is powerful if we don't first know what sort of power we mean?  We might say someone who is wealthy is powerful, because of what they can do using that wealth.  We might say someone who is very charismatic has a kind of personal power.  We often view leaders as being "powerful" while those who follow are "weak" or at least not as powerful.  Most often we seem to measure how "powerful" a person is by how much they can influence, affect, and/or control other people as well as how many people they can affect.  Thus both a tyrrant and conscionable leader can be seen as powerful (being powerful does equate with being moral or "good").  Someone like John Warren might be viewed as a more "powerful" dominant that say, me, because he's written books, attended events, given lectures, etc. and thus affect far more people in this lifestyle than me.  Some view having a higher post count than someone else as making them more "powerful".  We prize power, we covet it, we admire it... we associate having it as being good. But is it?  Is the way we measure our "power" valid and based in tangible facts... or just a pleasant self delusion to prop up our self esteem?  And even if some people are powerful, what does that mean?  Someone might be powerful because they are wealthy, and some will not care... some will even resent them for it.

Are submissives powerful?  First define what power.
Are submissives weak?  If they are, why do we so often seem to despise it.  In nature there are always some who are stronger than others, some who are weaker than others.  Being weaker is, of itself, not "bad" just as being powerful does not mean someone is "good".  Yet we so often mindlessly despise the weak and admire the "powerful".  A pride of lions is composed of both stronger and weaker members, yet its survival is dependant on their ability to work together... a lion who is forced out and alone often does not survive for long no matter how "powerful" they might individually be.

Is being "powerful" or stronger really all that great?  After all, as Darwin put it,"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, but those most responsive to change."  As bullheaded as some of us dominants can be, I can't help but wonder if the submissives who are sometimes called "weaker" but are also often more adaptive aren't the ones most likely to survive.

Personally, I don't give a damn how powerful any of you thinks you are... neither do I care if you are weak.  I care more who you are as a person, and whether you are powerful or not, I care more what you do with whatever skills, abilities, talents, or "power" you possess.  Don't tell me about how powerful you are or think you are... if you wish to impress me, tell me instead what worthy things you have done with it.

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ORIGINAL: raverj

"Submission is not an abdication of power, it is a dedication of it"

Someone on this board wrote that once. But the word means to give, to hand over.  You cant hand over your "power" thats silly. What submissives do, is put that power in service to the Top.

"power" is made of skills, abilities, thought patterns, its what we can do and what we know. 

Thing is, when a submissive is this strong, the Top has to be that much stronger.

So to the ones that responded so faithlessly to the one in joy in her own submission we understand that not everyone can handle such a strong sub and thats ok, no one expects you to. 

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ORIGINAL: happypervert

BTW Firmhand, if this isn't clear enough for you, feel free to imagine the worst.

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Then you have to wonder........

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I've never understood that saying... just how can you be anything other than who you are? 

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ORIGINAL: LuckyAlbatross

It is also a quick way of saying "I am more that can ever be described through the limited media of words.  I am an experience of myself within this understanding of reality that simply is."