Obviously, my comments on the other thread, acting like a hard-ass, was meant to be tongue-in-cheek.
Jeff and I have been talking about this idea quite a bit lately and trying to figure out where we are right now and where we want to be. With Jeff's organizational experience, and after taking everyones suggestions into consideration, this is what we've come up with so far.
First of all, we've all been calling this a cult, and that's a convenient shorthand for what we're talking about, but it also implies some things that we want to avoid confusion over. Nobody is suggesting that people give up their lives, put on a white robe, and move to a farm to pick beans.
What this really is, is an organized idea. The idea is that tickling, in and of itself, is empowering and spiritual, and can lead to greater mental, physical and spiritual health. It's also a lot of fun, which is not the least significant aspect of it. I'm sure we can all get behind those concepts.
All of us here have an interest in tickling, being tickled, or both. Many people call it a fetish, but it's possible that we've inadvertently tapped into something much larger than that.
What we want to do is build a group around this idea, an organization that allows people to explore tickling on a deeper and fuller level than has ever been possible before. Jeff and I see it as a coming together of the NEST, the TMF, and his World Ministry of Laughter, into a monolith of tickling possibilities.
To that end we've come up with some basic structural ideas and some starting principles, based on the feedback already given.
First: Men and women will be equal in the group. There will be different levels of advancement, to be determined later, but gender will have nothing to do with it. Lers and Lees, tops and bottoms, subs and doms, will be determined by personality and individual preference.
Second: Penances will be an integral part of the structure, and they will be based on the level of advancement of the individuals. The basic idea here, which will need to be fleshed out over time, is that people who have advanced in the hierarchy will have far greater experience in tickling and being tickled than a novice will, and a deeper understanding of the consequences, and will have far greater training in gauging peoples needs and tolerances.
We might even have certain people who are particularly advanced, skilled, and empathic, as official punishers (Lee, we're looking in your direction.) For example if a higher level member transgresses against a very low level member, it might be necessary to send the higher level member to someone specifically qualified, to be penanced.
Which leads to Three: Safewords will be used, but possibly only at the earlier levels. Higher level people may be judged to have moved beyond the need for them. Their judgement and trust level may have graduated to a point where they no longer need to use them either as lers or lees.
Fourth: There will have to be dues to cover expenses. One thing that Jeff and I have both discovered from the TMF and the NEST is that these things cost money and there are always unexpected costs that surprise you. And putting the financial burden on one persons shoulders is not only unfair, it's ultimately limiting and crippling. If we want this to really grow, we're going to have to build in a way for it to be self-sustaining right from the start.
Okay now. The topic is, once again, open to discussion.
Max
Jeff and I have been talking about this idea quite a bit lately and trying to figure out where we are right now and where we want to be. With Jeff's organizational experience, and after taking everyones suggestions into consideration, this is what we've come up with so far.
First of all, we've all been calling this a cult, and that's a convenient shorthand for what we're talking about, but it also implies some things that we want to avoid confusion over. Nobody is suggesting that people give up their lives, put on a white robe, and move to a farm to pick beans.
What this really is, is an organized idea. The idea is that tickling, in and of itself, is empowering and spiritual, and can lead to greater mental, physical and spiritual health. It's also a lot of fun, which is not the least significant aspect of it. I'm sure we can all get behind those concepts.
All of us here have an interest in tickling, being tickled, or both. Many people call it a fetish, but it's possible that we've inadvertently tapped into something much larger than that.
What we want to do is build a group around this idea, an organization that allows people to explore tickling on a deeper and fuller level than has ever been possible before. Jeff and I see it as a coming together of the NEST, the TMF, and his World Ministry of Laughter, into a monolith of tickling possibilities.
To that end we've come up with some basic structural ideas and some starting principles, based on the feedback already given.
First: Men and women will be equal in the group. There will be different levels of advancement, to be determined later, but gender will have nothing to do with it. Lers and Lees, tops and bottoms, subs and doms, will be determined by personality and individual preference.
Second: Penances will be an integral part of the structure, and they will be based on the level of advancement of the individuals. The basic idea here, which will need to be fleshed out over time, is that people who have advanced in the hierarchy will have far greater experience in tickling and being tickled than a novice will, and a deeper understanding of the consequences, and will have far greater training in gauging peoples needs and tolerances.
We might even have certain people who are particularly advanced, skilled, and empathic, as official punishers (Lee, we're looking in your direction.) For example if a higher level member transgresses against a very low level member, it might be necessary to send the higher level member to someone specifically qualified, to be penanced.
Which leads to Three: Safewords will be used, but possibly only at the earlier levels. Higher level people may be judged to have moved beyond the need for them. Their judgement and trust level may have graduated to a point where they no longer need to use them either as lers or lees.
Fourth: There will have to be dues to cover expenses. One thing that Jeff and I have both discovered from the TMF and the NEST is that these things cost money and there are always unexpected costs that surprise you. And putting the financial burden on one persons shoulders is not only unfair, it's ultimately limiting and crippling. If we want this to really grow, we're going to have to build in a way for it to be self-sustaining right from the start.
Okay now. The topic is, once again, open to discussion.
Max
