Dear calie: Thank you for the compliment but it appears that the ribbon must have come loose on My “gift for expressing�?Myself as it seems that you are not clear on what I was saying.  First of all, the statement I made and you have cited was connective with the preceding paragraph regarding fulfillment, intimacy, sensuality, and personal gratification independent from Lifestyle activities �? �? all of which was responding directly to Ama’s points regarding self acceptance and understanding as means for attaining gratification and what I interpreted as her challenge to discuss (and possibly understand) the topic of submissiveness outside of Lifestyle activities, checklists, or other worn and weary Lifestyle concepts such as power exchange.  Maybe it was just a rhetorical question and you really did not want it answered, eh Ama?    If so I apologize. In what seems to be the foundation of your post regarding power exchange you state some things that I think might also contribute to skewing your clarity: "Your statement (I also put little weight in the "power exchange" concept, unless you are confining it to brief, time-limited, and activity-defined involvements.) and then using Mother Theresa as an example are actually contradictory.  To state that one can not display the power exchange continuously, when Mother Theresa did?�?/FONT> I did not use Mother Teresa as an example for power exchange but clearly stated that: My favorite example of a human being who also happens to be submissive is Mother Teresa As far as the second statement you say I made I looked again and see I did not said it.  In light of these facts I see no contradiction as you perceive.  It seems clear that I used Mother Teresa as stated �?an example of person who also happened to be submissive �? With no commentary connecting her with “power exchange.�? I hope this helps clear it up ... it seems to be just a case of apples and orange roughy or trying to connect the dots with an unsharpened pencil. Thanks for taking the time to read it and offering your perspectives.  It’s nice to know you found it interesting enough to think through and respond to it.  I enjoyed reading your perceptions on power exchange and will leave you with another brain tickler to ponder (and maybe start a new discussion) regarding one of your positions on power exchange: Every time you concede to someone, you are giving over power, is this not what a power exchange is? No �? there are times when conceding is an act of empowerment rather than an act of giving over power and is a retention of power rather than an exchange of power. ﺼﺸ§hìftìñgWìñdﻌﺼ