What should Submission mean to a Slave?

Submission is about relinquishing total control to another person. It’s about having absolute trust and faith in another person. It’s about not having safe words as a sign of devotion.

A slave cannot say they are submissive if they have safe words. Your Master should determine how much pain or pleasure his slave should experience. Like I said its about relinquishing total control to your master. Having absolute faith and trust in him to submit to anything he desires.

Having safe words tells him that you don’t trust him to give all of yourself over to him.
I am not saying there shouldn’t be a limit but your master should determine the limit.
It is important to remember that your pleasure is secondary and the pleasure of your master and whomever else he chooses to use you should come first.

There should be no limits that you are willing to try. Being a slave means willing to do anything, try anything.

There are FOUR STAGES that defines submission, servitude, slavery, and surrender according to the key characteristics of each stage. In my lexicon, to be "at" a stage, every key characteristic must be met. For example, a submissive may exhibit a very broad or even total power exchange, but, without the characteristics of servitude, total obedience, and ownership, is not a slave. Additionally, each level builds on those to the left of it, as indicated in the key characteristics.

Stage 1 - Submission - Key characteristics: power exchange, obedience, respect, and trust.

Some level of power exchange is absolutely necessary for submission to exist, as this exchange is the fundamental basis thereof. Any combination of characteristics may define the exchange… inclusive or exclusive, any duration to consent, any number of limits or parameters. The power exchanged by a submissive can range from very limited to total.

Within the boundaries of this exchange, the submissive makes a basic commitment to obey the dominant. Obedience is typically not (but can be) total at the submission stage. There may be a thought process preceding the decision to obey, and obedience is not necessarily a given.

It should be readily apparent that respect and trust are requirements for submission, and every other stage except servitude. As this seems widely recognized, it will just be noted here.

Stage 2 - Servitude - Key characteristics: proactive giving, happiness through others, selflessness.

Proactive giving is an active pursuit of opportunities to serve another person without expectation of reciprocation… service for the sake of service itself. While a person that is submissive will follow orders to serve, the service-oriented person continually pursues ways to better serve their partner. This characteristic can usually be observed in a service-oriented person outside the context of BDSM relationships as well.

The service-oriented person derives some of their own happiness from the happiness they create for someone else. While others aren't their sole source of joy, this is often a primary one.

Selflessness is lowering the priority of one's own wants in favor of someone else's. It is an unconscious behavior by the service-oriented person, and can be a concern when taken to an extreme. Due to selflessness, the service-oriented person may have difficulty asking for things from their partner.

I believe that servitude is an inherent need in some people, whether born or bred. It is an orientation. While it's certainly possible for someone without this need to act in a service-oriented manner, this probably isn't maintainable in the long term.

Servitude doesn't necessarily require submission, although most service-oriented people are probably also submissive by nature. The combination is the service submissive, who may also be a slave.

Stage 3 - Slavery = Key characteristics: submission and service, power exchange (broad), total obedience, ownership

Slavery is the combination of deep submission and a strong service orientation. Not only has the slave submitted to their dominant (master), but also an ongoing behavior is proactive service. "Deep" submission is characterized by broad power exchange and total obedience.

Broad power exchange as I define it has the following characteristics:

- Consent is for an unspecified period, and the submissive does not have the right to withdraw consent without the dominant's agreement. Agreement will typically be granted.

- The exchange is exclusive. All activities not specifically limited are in-bounds.

- The submissive has relatively few explicit limits, or none at all. Note that this does not remove all moral obligations on the part of the dominant.

- The exchange is not limited to certain times, but is a fundamental thread running throughout the participant’s lives.

Total obedience is expected of the slave as a characteristic of their submission. While there may still be a thought process prior to obedience, the outcome will be to try to obey.

A different view of the relationship arises in slavery, that of ownership. The dominant and submissive both consider the latter owned by the former. While this is not a legally recognized status, the mutual agreement about this ownership makes it as legitimate as any other relationship.

Stage 4 - Surrender - Key characteristics: slavery, power exchange (total), thoughtless obedience, and property.

As slavery can be considered a subcategory of submission, surrender is a subcategory of slavery. In addition to basic slavery, there are more strict requirements of the power exchanged, and the surrendered slave exhibit thoughtless obedience and considers themselves property.

Total power exchange as I define it has the following characteristics:

- Consent is for an unspecified period, and the submissive does not have the right to withdraw consent.

- The exchange is without explicit limits. All activities are the right of the dominant, but moral obligations remain.

- The exchange is not limited to certain times, but is a fundamental thread running throughout the relationship.

Obedience becomes thoughtless in the surrendered slave. Orders from the dominant are unquestionably obeyed without regard to their content. This change represents a significant increase in the dominant's level of responsibility in the relationship.

It is difficult to explain the shift from ownership to property, since they seem to mean the same thing. In a property mindset, the surrendered slave has internalized and accepted ownership to the extent that they are the equivalent of any other possession.