I recently had several scene friends come to visit me for a traditional music festival in my hometown. I was shocked at just how many had accepted the invitation- I had not realised there was such an overlap in interest.
I am still buzzing from what was a wonderful week on so many levels, and also incredibly relieved that it worked. Relieved that we were able to work out sleeping arrangements for the bunch who stayed in my apartment. Relieved that everyone found events which interested them. Relieved that everyone made it around town and back to wherever they were sleeping each night without getting lost. Relieved that everyone seemed to have a good time. Relieved that my scene friends and local friends mixed without incident.
We were discreet, but not quite as discreet as one might be at a moderated munch. None of the onlookers said anything, but there were a few raised eyebrows, a few lingering stares. It was apparent to some that this was no group of casual acquaintances.
Some already knew who my visitors were. Those I have told about my other life hear the phrase “my Dublin friends” for the code that it is. Others, I feel, have suspicions. A few have asked directly; the cover story that ye all are friends I’ve met in other pubs on my travels breaks down a bit occasionally among my local pub friends.
These two lives that I had kept so separate have started to mix. And. . .life goes on. This thing that I had been so anxious about turned out to be a non-event. That, in itself, is remarkable.
Thank you all for being amazing friends!
Acknowledging Imperfection 
You are quite amazing yourself
Kia,
Are you from Ireland. On another note, I would keep the freinds separate. People just don’t understand this stuff. They think it is abuse.
I am not originally from Ireland, but I do live there now.
Even a year ago, I was far more careful (paranoid?) about keeping the groups of friends separate. However, as I got more involved in the local scene, this became less and less practical. While I’m not fully open, I’ve lowered the threshold for when I’ll discuss kink if questioned or if the chat heads that direction. All responses so far have been positive, but then my friends tend to be the open-minded sort (even my vanilla self can be a bit much to handle on occasion!).
Good to see such a joyous post 🙂
I hope that the way your scene and vanilla life seem to running smoothly means you might have time to dabble in another story from time to time.
Thanks! Running smoothly but busily- haven’t had time to write much beyond what has been strictly required for work or CLASS– thankfully I’ll be able to hand over most of the CLASS stuff in a few months. Until then. . . . well, I’ll see if I can squeeze some time in somewhere.
Despite what Mark says, I’ve found that almost all my vanilla friends accept my predilections (which I don’t hide) with, at the worst, mild surprise and generally with a grin. Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but I’ve yet to encounter anyone who sees it as ‘abuse’; it seems to be widely acknowledged these days that a taste for spanking, or being spanked, is nothing so unusual and certainly nothing to get upset about.
Should have added: one or two of them even seem a touch envious….
That’s largely my experience as well, though I count myself lucky and value the friends who have been accepting when they hear of this part of me.