BOUNDtoBOND

I have been deeply exploring the beautiful, sensual, insightful world of Shibari since 2011. Rope has been one of my greatest teachers. I have learned more about myself on this journey than I ever would have guessed: about the strength of vulnerability, the ways we process sensation, how we communicate (verbally and non-verbally), and the places where we are all strong or weak, tight or flexible (physically and emotionally). I treasure my relationship to rope and am here to share my images and insights.

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The simplicity of a single column tie........ Still from a work in progress.

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Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

-Max Ehrmann. 1952.

----------because sometimes I forget. 

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Shibari, Kunst und Performance – die Welt von BoundToBond

Wir haben die Bondage Performer Kanso & Blue von BoundToBond.com zu einem exklusiven Interview eingeladen, uns Einblicke in ihre Bondagewelt zu geben. Hier in der Originalversion in Englisch ... Can you explain SHIBARI in a few words? Shibari is rooted in Japanese SM culture; however, as...

We were recently interviewed for this blog out of Germany, take a look! 

(The interview is in English)

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An offering. 

Valentine’s Day at JadeNow Gallery in Santa Barbara.

tied by Kanso. image by an anonymous attendee, edited by me. 

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I have been so impressed by the images I have been seeing from Gorgone's 'Study on Falling' .... I wanted to try one myself. So when I had the opportunity to tie the most delightful and graceful Arielle Lane at the hobo shack, this is what happened!! image by Kanso. jute by knotknormal. inspiration by @gorgone-kinbaku

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I wish I knew who to credit this with because it deserves to be acknowledged (can anyone comment on the source here?)

In very few lines, the artist has drawn EXACTLY how I feel when being tied. Let’s call it: Heart Strings. 

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As I began to love myself

As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is “AUTHENTICITY”.

As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody As I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this person was me. Today I call it “RESPECT”.

As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life, and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow. Today I call it “MATURITY”.

As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance, I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm. Today I call it “SELF-CONFIDENCE”.

As I began to love myself I quit steeling my own time, and I stopped designing huge projects for the future. Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in my own rhythm. Today I call it “SIMPLICITY”.

As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism. Today I know it is “LOVE OF ONESELF”.

As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is “MODESTY”.

As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worry about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where EVERYTHING is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it “FULFILLMENT”.

As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me and it can make me sick. But As I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection “WISDOM OF THE HEART”.

We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing new worlds are born. Today I know THAT IS “LIFE”! 

-Charlie Chaplin

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man ray 1932

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Rope is a journey into trust. 

Here is a pinnacle moment in that profound, challenging, rewarding journey, for me. Performing with Kanso at Symbiosis Gathering 2015. Bound in a back bendy face up, shot with arrows and pulleyed upwards of 25′ high, slowly swiveling above a sea of faces, the most of which had never laid their eyes on rope bondage before. 

What beautiful instances we can find ourselves in, in this life! I closed my eyes to take in all the sounds and the air, I opened them to absorb the energy of the crowd, and felt, incredibly calm. 

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When a boxtie feels like the architecture of home

I am fairly certain I could say I appreciate every single one going on me. There are countless, we know, but they bring with them the anticipation of what lies ahead, and the initial embrace from my partner. the foundational surrender. the offering. patience. I believe the more one gets tied into a boxtie, the more one craves and treasures being tied into a boxtie. In other words, it doesn't get old. It actually gets better. Different personalities, varied tensions. True, there are some days when my skin just itches in the rope. It's always a bit of a surprise that my body can be so adverse to one of the materials I love the most. But, we all have our days, and we do have our cycles, and so things vary.

And then, then! there are those extraordinary moments when the perfect boxtie is laid upon me. I can count these occasions on...two hands, they are precious and memorable. and I can tell from the first wrap...this one here, is going to be a good one. and every wrap and cinch and friction and tension confirms my gut feeling.

The form lays upon me like the framework of a house. I understand, from within, the reason for every rope needing to be placed the way it is, I feel myself meld with its structure. We are the architecture for the journey ahead.

I don't need every single boxtie to feel like this. We all have so-so days. I wouldn't want this sensation to become ordinary and expected. And I treasure that quick knowing, when I do sense one building.

Be still now, Blue, you are headed home. or home is headed to you. Or you both are what is home.

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I had the pleasure recently of tying and photographing my beautiful friend Bobochee. She is a fellow photographer and rope lover and we had an awesome time collaborating. 

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daily wisdom from Mr. Fuller

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from Kitan Club

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daily wisdom from Mr. Picasso

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MBE San Francisco. September 2015 in the Roman Baths at the SFArmory.

my first scene of the bondage marathon, with DaddyBitesHard

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You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Mary Oliver