I already answered this question rather simply in slut4u's post, but then I found this thread and i thought, what a great way to introduce myself!!

How did you find out about the BDSM lifestyle?
I was doing a very innocent search through my parents' drawers looking for photos... and before you ask, I knew there were photos there before I started looking. They showed them to be before. How was I supposed to know there was more stuff?! Anyway, I found this book with a line drawing of a medieval tavern wench in chains and "S & M: short stories" on the cover. I love to read and thought "COOL!! NEW BOOK!!" I read the first chapter and realized that my urges had a name. Well, I got curious, got on the internet (a wonderful, wonderful tool by the way) and did search through google. Oh the relief!! There were others out there like me, there were pictures and stories. While I admit that I am slight insane and crazy, I was relieved that I wasn't the only one.
What was its appeal to you?
I dunno. I think I've always been a masochist with violent tendencies as well as a control freak. I loved the idea of being tied up and having no control over those situations as well as being dominated.
What misconceptions did you have of BDSM before you began that have been changed now?
I never really had any. I didn't know it existed until I read that book and then I started to learn through the net. I'm still a baby at all this. I've never had a Master or Mistress.
What do you hope to learn/teach/pass on to others about BDSM?
Learn? Everything. I have this insatiable thirst for knowledge as well as a photographic imagination. I want to know everything and eventually do almost everything. And, I hope to learn more about myself. Teach? Dunno, don't have anything to impart just yet. Pass on to others? Well, don't suppress it or deny it, doesn't matter what "it" is. It only gets worse with time and then you start going a little nuts...
Do you consider yourself a "lifestyler" or just an occasional player?
I think I'm a lifestyler. I fantasize about having a permanent master and well, if this was just a "stage" then I think I would have grown out of it a long time ago. But then again, I don't have much experience to go on.
What do you enjoy about being dominant/submissive?
Oooo.... submissive, I love the lack of control and there something about being tied up. I don't really know what it is. Also, I'm a people pleaser. I'm happiest when I have someone that needs to be pleased and I have the ability to make that happen.
What do you like about your dominant/submissive(s), if you have one (them)?
I don't have anyone and it's frustrating. Not just that but I'm not a social person, I'm not outgoing. I don't know how to meet them and as much as my friends "accept" this part of me, they still tease me too much for it to seem like they're comfortable with it. They still make me feel abnormal and freakish and slightly ashamed. I'm too embarrassed broach the subject.