Initiation and Pain
Jul. 22nd, 2009 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosInitiations -- both the planned and the unexpected -- have been an interest of mine for many years. Every so often I'll make lists of major transition points in my life, looking at which are simply that -- transitions -- and which qualify as initiations.
One of the most important qualities which sets initiations apart from other milestone events is that of transformation. After going through an initation you are not who you were before, and there is no going back to your pre-initiatory state. You have changed.
Today, for the first time, I started wondering about the pain that so frequently accompanies initiation, at least in my personal experience. I'm reluctant to say that all initiations must include an element of pain, but when I reflect back on my own iniatory experiences the ones that were most significant and the most profound were the ones that hurt -- or at least were deeply challenging.
It's too late in the evening now for me to come up with a personal conclusion, but I wanted to pose the question here and find out what my friends think.
One of the most important qualities which sets initiations apart from other milestone events is that of transformation. After going through an initation you are not who you were before, and there is no going back to your pre-initiatory state. You have changed.
Today, for the first time, I started wondering about the pain that so frequently accompanies initiation, at least in my personal experience. I'm reluctant to say that all initiations must include an element of pain, but when I reflect back on my own iniatory experiences the ones that were most significant and the most profound were the ones that hurt -- or at least were deeply challenging.
It's too late in the evening now for me to come up with a personal conclusion, but I wanted to pose the question here and find out what my friends think.
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I son't know that its necessary
Date: 2009-07-23 07:10 am (UTC)I remember a joyful initiation when I was 14, of running away with my neighbor "ladies" and my mom for chocolate shakes at 3 am. We drank them in the car, gossiped, and watched the sun come up.
I was finally old enough, and they all treated me differently after that.
My first S and M scene was painless.
My first dance performance.
My first day as a stripper.
I also think that spontaneous ones can be rather painless, simply because they're unplanned, unexpected. I think we have been programmed to hear the word "initiation" and think "difficulty". I think we expect it.