Today, under an absolutely beautiful breezy blue sky, was my first foray back to in-person Leather and Kink since COVID slammed NYC into a bleak lockdown of rampant illness and death. Yeah...my return has been slow as fuck. Sorry not sorry...I lost all faith the last 2+ years that humanity held a basic foundation of common fucking sense. Humans are humans and they'll do what they want not necessarily what they should. However, the world is different now, the numbers are down, and the heat index was low, so I'm easing my way back into the flow of humanity on my terms.
As I laid in my bed this morning contemplating those terms and my day, a gradual dawning of RE-awareness crept over me...all the fucking things that go into going to a community event. SMH. Fuck...I'd forgotten! The clothes. The leather. The implements. The EFFORT! But at the last minute I pulled my shit together and stepped out without embarrassing myself or my Chapter.
On my Uber drive with a satchel full of Leather, I contemplated. Three years ago, 2019, was the last time I was at Folsom East. On that blistering hot day in Chelsea standing on those two packed cobblestone blocks, I began my Leather Journey as a humble ONYX Pearls pledge...no Leather boots...no Leather vest. I think back and understand now how naked I must have looked to Leather eyes. I met my line sisters and many of the other Full Sisters that day, totally oblivious to the deep transformation that was coming at me full steam with pledging to Leather. I wouldn't change a single thing. Every step brought me further on the Journey I was always meant to take. With the amount of growth and transformation I've personally undertaken, in many ways 2019 feels like 10 years ago, but...
Much of the last three years have passed in a blur of "remote" work and socializing that somehow stopped time. Often the changes beyond my personal nest happened without me having to face the consequences. There are those who will never return, and no matter how much mourning has been done, each next step without them in this new reality brings another bit of grief and more readjustment. ~sigh~ Then I thought of the faces that I knew would not be there as their lives had taken them in different directions, and I ached with their absence while respecting their needs and focus. So much is different now, and my brain can rarely anticipate how the reality slaps hit my heart.
Folsom East's location shifted further downtown to anchor at the Rockbar. While the quaint cobblestone streets were no longer at our, there was finally shade above our heads, which was a HUGE fucking blessing I cherished. THANK YOU FOLSOM EAST PLANNERS!!! Though I did miss the vendors, organization booths, and the big Folsom stage where you could see without having to be a foot from the action. However this year's event wasn't really about tents and entertainment...it was about reconnecting and finally simply being together again.
My soul breathed a sigh of relief as I stood with my ONYX Pearls NY-NE Sisters and Siblings and their much loved P/partners. I met our pledge, new friends, folks who had seen me virtually in my service to the Leather Solidarity Collective. And then there was the handful of wonderful people I once again got to hug and chat with who I hadn't seen since before the pandemic. My parched soul drank up the joyous energy with each "HEY!" as we left unsaid..."I'm so fucking glad you're alive." Tears often tickled my eyelids just at seeing their beautiful faces and hearing their voices.
Fuck...I've missed this MAGIC—those connections that feed us big and small in WIITWD — the conversations, the banter, the laugher, the sexiness, the delicious flicks of casual pain, the smell of Leather, the feel of skin and warmth and humanity. It was good to be back and once again share in some community.
~DominaKat
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