Seasons of Slavery

Just a few days ago Kaya wrote about the issues and struggles that are associated with the transition from being a "full-time, stay-at-home slave" to a slave who works outside the home for some portion of the week. I've never had the luxury of that particular lifestyle option, but I can imagine that it is a complicated path to negotiate. Here's a severely edited version of some of what kaya wrote about it all:

I’ve ... recently returned to work after living as a full-time slave...it’s mostly a power thing...earning an income definitely puts me up there on an equal pedestal...getting my work clothes ready and organizing my stuff on Sunday evening ... flipped my slave switch to off ...working, there’s always a conflict between work and it’s associated activities...there just ain’t enough room for Master to receive priority... this job interferes in our lifestyle

That discussion has tipped me into the contemplation of the impending annual transition from working professional to "stay-at-home" summer slave. I understand that my cycling through the year, moving in and out of the workplace/home settings as the school year rounds, is not nearly the same thing as being at home knowing that "at home" is where you will be for as far into the future as anyone can see. I am and I will continue to be a slave who also has a career for as long as He finds that path to be a positive benefit to the household. I will continue to make the daily transition in and out of my collar as I leave and return from my teaching, and I will continue to make the transition from "worker" to "stay-at-home" slave as well.



We struggle through every school year. The imposed limits in terms of time and flexibility are always difficult and challenging for us. For each and all of the nine + months of the academic year, my energy and focus must be, to a very large degree, on the demands of my teaching work. Our M/s does not go away through those months, but it does get adjusted and shifted. That is a choice and a decision that we make, as adults, in full cognizance of the realities and practicalities of our life. The simple fact is that the salary (and benefits) that I bring into our household are important to our continued ability to live in the fashion that we prefer. There is the possibility of making other choices, and changing the way we live, but at present, this is the path we follow.



The other part of the story, for me, and for us, is that the summer break from school means that I drop back into the home-bound mode. It is a good and joyous thing for us because it gives us more time and more flexibility and more leeway to relate in ways that are very difficult during the school year. Still, I almost always go through a period of adjustment. My home days are slower. They are less "mine" and way more "His." I spend more time either alone or with Him, and I have very little contact with others outside the house. My focus narrows.



That is neither good nor bad. It just is. I know, from experience, that the change isn't usually something that is automatic or entirely smooth for me. It requires some energy and attention for me to get my mind and heart settled into the different routines of the summer months. If I'm paying attention, and working at it with awareness and intention, I am usually "there" within a very few days, and then we cruise along through the warm, summer days -- trying not to look ahead at the point on the calendar where I'll need to shift back into the other mode as September bears down on us.



So. OK. Not the fantasy, idyllic situation that I or we might be able to envision if this were a perfect world. I can muster up plenty of wishes that things be different, and a strong desire to just shuck all that "working for a living" nonsense and stay home to help Him get ready to go work each day, to cook good meals, and keep the house tidy, and make sure the laundry is handled, and maintain the flower beds, etc. Wishes are fine, but life is what it is. This might not be the most perfect manifestation of slavery imaginable. It is the life we have, and it is pretty darn wonderful. So, I'll continue to shift and accommodate to the ebb and flow of my days and weeks and months. I'll work to remember who and what I am and to make that true in my life. Whether I am padding around the house, or managing my classroom, it is what He wants from me, and I will keep doing it as best I can; mindful always, that what I do serves and honors Him.



swan