Hi All,

What a fascinating topic and one that is very relevant to me as, for the first time in our relationship, I am living away fom my owner for four or five days a week.

I don't have a brand (yet!!), and my collar is far too obvious to wear to work, the same applying the wrist bands and anklets which are beautifully made but have obvious symbolism. What I do have and what I wear virtually all the time is a ring engraved inside with "J owned by M", and a plain gold necklace (last year's Christmas present) which has a locket containing my owner's picture, and engraved inside with "Jane is owned by me, Mark". If any vanilla acquaintance gets too nosey and wants to see inside the locket, I just pretend that it is jammed and I can't open it.

A friend of mine is a recovering alcoholic and she always spends five minutes out of her day just sitting quietly and thinking about staying sober. I have adopted a similar routine; being English we have tea or coffee mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Most people take a five minute break or stretch their legs and have a smoke. I just shut the door to my office and twice a day I give myself three or four minutes of peace and quiet, thinking about how I can be a better subbie, how lucky I am, and how I can please my owner. It's now part of my work routine and I think it helps me stay focussed on my position in our relationship.

It may not seem to be very proactive or exciting, bu it seems to work for me...............

Love Jane