Wow, now I'm really happy I opened this door - thank you all for sharing!

MsUther - lol, something like that happened to me yesterday. The friend I was talking about showed up unexpected and I had no time to hide some of the toys and other stuff before she got in. *grins* She more or less shrugged it off with a smile and that was it. The whole talk afterwards revolved around sex, go figure. But I didn't open up as much as you did...way to go for being so brave!

Aussiegirl - YES, that's it! I don't want to lie about that big smile on my face anymore, exactly. Coming out for me isn't about wanting to brag about what kinky things I do, it's about being able to be open and honest with my loved ones once again. I'm glad it worked out well for you and that you have one person close to you that you're able to share with more openly.

shins - *nods* I know about the invisible line between what's commonly accepted kink and what might be too much for people to take. I've let comments about very mild BDSM stuff slip and only got curious and positive reactions. But the more involved side of this, the beauty of D/s and what it truely means to some of us...I think that's pushing most people's understanding to a limit. See, my friend saw a pair of handcuffs on the table and was cool about it (hell, she's got some toy ones herself, lol)...had she seen the bowl with water on my kitchen floor, though, I'm sure she'd been very disturbed and worried about me. And yeah, I'd have been hard pressed to explain it.

Such cool stories, everyone...I'm glued!