for Issue number 8
Thursday, February 08, 2001

Why I Am a Master
by Jack Rinella

In reply to Patrick's essay last week, a reader asked me "Why do you want to be a Master?" It's a fair question, so here goes.

The most important reason is that I am who I am. In living a dominant, SM, and polyamorous lifestyle I am being true to myself. I've learned who I am and how I am, what I want and how I want to live. Learning to know myself wasn't an easy process, but having come to that self-knowledge, I have chosen to be myself in an authentic way.

There are no other reasons that really matter, but there are lots of other reasons that make sense, at least to me. Since this is my life, I guess that means they do matter. <Grin>

I am a hedonist. I like pleasure a great deal and am comfortable enjoying myself. That means that I no longer feel guilty for doing things that are fun. I enjoy sexual pleasure a great deal and so put myself into relationships where I can have lots of sex. "What do you like most, Jack?" they all ask. "Everything" is my usual answer.

I am eclectic in my pleasures but especially enjoy having my tits played with while being sucked or rimmed. I enjoy a good fuck. I enjoy inflicting pain, especially cock and ball torture and using clothespins.

So that leads me to my second trait. I am a sadist. I can't explain why I am so, but inflicting pain, not injury, arouses me greatly. It makes my blood flow, my dick hard, and my body feel exhilarated. Get over my knee, I'll show you.

I am curious. Leather sex is an exploration of intense spiritual and psychic interest to me. Being a Master gives me the opportunity to "experiment" and learn where all this can and will "take" me and my partners. How intense can our bonding become? What alternate states can we experience? What sensations, experiences, and connections can be had? I want to know, so I do these things to learn.

Then I think about them. I am almost always thinking and asking myself why. My Masterful life feeds my mind with new information, giving it experiences and insights that add to my core of knowledge and teach me wisdom. Wisdom, by the way, is the one thing that I seek most. I have wanted it from my earliest days and continue to ask for it in prayer and in action.

I am responsible. This may be traced back to my "first-born" status or my training as a child, but I enjoy being in charge. This is more than being in control, though I like that immensely as well. I enjoy taking responsibility and making decisions that affect others in positive ways. This is both a service and an ego gratification. Of course, one might say that all of this is ego gratification.

I am convinced that the Master/slave relationships I am in are right relationships. There is a very moral side to me, perhaps even prudish, that seeks to be in right relationships. It is difficult for me to compromise myself or to pretend that a relationship is well when it is not. I believe that I am in a healthy, positive, and mutually beneficial relationship with my slave(s) and therefore maintain them.

That does not mean that I am everyone's master or that everyone should be my slave. My moral certitude about the rightness of my relationship is based solely on me and the other person, in this case Patrick. This relationship is right for us. It is uniquely ours and is uniquely right for who we are.

I fully expect, of course, that there are other men (and women?) out there with whom I can have a right Master/slave relationship. In fact, I see the ownership (albeit non-legal) of more than one slave as being integral to the real fulfillment of a Master/slave relationship. I seek more slaves so that I can be more of a Master, that is, more of who I am.

Let's face it: I am lazy. I like being a Master because I like having people clean up after me, prepare my meals, do my laundry, attend to my every whim, while I sit there and enjoy the results. Part of this enjoyment comes from the fact that I know that the other (in this case the slave) enjoys doing these things for me. It is better to give to receive, so in this case, the slave gets more pleasure than I but I will give him that reward. By being recipient (a hard job but someone has to do it) I give him satisfaction. I like that.

I enjoy being surrounded with the presence of others. I like having a family, being social at meals with a small crowd. For me, the more the merrier. Mastery, with multiple slaves, affords me the luxury of company. It is, after all, not good that this man be alone.

Being in control in the relationship affords me the luxury of defining how and when that "crowd" will be present. I, like everyone else, enjoy quiet times. Being Master means I can call them to serve me or send them away.

That paragraph reveals another facet of my personality. I love being in control. The sadistic part of me is based on this quality. I do what I do because I can do it. I often paddle or squeeze or pinch or inflict pain as much to demonstrate that I can as anything else. I love to assert my mastery. It gives me great pleasure to do so.

I am Master because I can be. I am Master because others have given me the gift of service, of devotion, of worship. They give it to me willingly and I accept it that way. By expressing their slave hearts they allow me to manifest my Master-life. In that way it is a mutual creation. I am Master because my slave(s) make it so.

I, of course, reciprocate by making their slavery possible as well. Again, it is a mutually beneficial and fulfilling relationship.

Mastery entails control over my slave's finances and by having control I am better able to pursue my writing career. Face it, being a writer pays very poorly. My income therefore has to be augmented with my slave's income. Being a Master allows me to express another part of my fundamental being, that is, being a writer. In a very real sense you all have Patrick (and a few other close friends) to thank for the fact that I continue to write.

OK, here's the wildest reason. Now you'll really think I've gone too far.

I have come to the conclusion that the only appropriate object of man's worship is man himself. Man is, as many believe, made in the image and likeness of God, so my faith says that worship is reasonable. Therefore I enjoy being worshipped. We use the terms frequently in regards to heterosexual love. I just use them in regards to the Master/slave relationship.

Though most use it allegorically, as in "He just worships the ground she walks on," I believe it is right and just to use the word worship explicitly.

Well, if those aren't reasons enough, there's not much else I can say. Slavery-minded individuals who wish to advance my mastery are welcome to apply.

Have a great week. You can leave me email
at mrjackr@leathermail.com or visit my website
at http://www.LeatherViews.com