“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond belief.
It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel unsure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. As we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
~Marianne Williamson – with references to God removed

My relationship is not traditional D/s, M/s, TPE or any of those power based relationship acronyms.
I consider it D/s because a) neither of us believe in the whole Master/slave thing. We don’t like the words in general, don’t believe in “consensual” slavery and have very firm beliefs regarding the differences between a Dominant and a Master – most particularly that a Master must own something to be a Master while Dominance is a personality trait – and b) It’s the one that best fits. He’s a Dominant person and I tend to submit to those who are more dominant than I am.
We don’t, however, do things like most “traditional” folks say we should. :) We have little in the way of ritual and rules and whatnot. I have broad boundaries I must stay within, a few rules that help define those boundaries and the only rituals we have are personally important, not important because they define our relationship or it’s power balance.
We’re… simple.
Our relationship is simple.
He’s the boss. Period. I’m not. Period.
So long as I remember that, so long as I obey in the long run (cuz, yes, I am allowed to argue and disagree – so long as I bend to his will and do as I’m told in the long run. It’s not the fantasy land, “yes sir, yes sir, yes sir”, incapable of having a thought in my head much less disagreeing bullshit that he wants), we’re just, basically, normal folks living our lives in a way that is normal for us. Yeah, he sometimes spanks me. Yeah, he sometimes calls me foul names. Yeah, he sometimes makes me take off his boots even though I was in the middle of something else. But it’s not this big…. I dunno… fucking production.
Our life is not like reading “Story of O” or the Marketplace books. It’s not like a letter to Playboy. It’s not like what most folks dream about when they discover this lifestyle (usually in chat). It’s not about him controlling me to the max, taking care of me, making all my decisions and me getting to live the easy life, serving him without a worry about anything else.
All that stuff is good for a vacation. Good for a week or a month or even a glorious weekend. But, jesus, I could never survive that way long term.

I am too much … me.
I am not arrogant or vain but, by god, I shine.
There are things about me that are invaluable – things that are at the core of my very being – that would smother and die in one of those fantasy relationships.

I am perceptive. I can read people. I am calm and rational and make the smart decision most times. I am a good leader. I am strong. I am smart.
And I am incredibly lucky to have a man who is not afraid of those things, who uses those things to benefit himself, our relationship, our family and our lives in general.
I am incredibly lucky to have a man who doesn’t need a bunch of trappings to feel in charge, in control or in power.
A man who can let me shine, never asks me to shrink or play small.
He accepts me and loves me for just who I am. He is strong and capable and powerful without ever feeling lessened by my own strength and power. He can even bend at times, accepting that my way might be better, that I may have strenghts he does not. He is my god – without ever insisting in godlike fashion that he knows everything, is always right or cannot make a mistake.

I could ask for more – but that would make me greedy beyond belief. :)

“You are the man who is the axis of my world” ~Anais Nin