The other day, I (Jayden) was listening to There’s Nothing Holding Me Back by Shawn Mendes. As I listened to the lyrics, I realized that there are some definite Dominance/submission overtones to it. Lines like:

I wanna follow where she goes
I think about her and she knows it
I wanna let her take control
‘Cause everytime that she gets close, yeah

Oh, I’ve been shaking
I love it when you go crazy
You take all my inhibitions
Baby, there’s nothing holdin’ me back
You take me places that tear up my reputation
Manipulate my decisions
Baby, there’s nothing holdin’ me back

https://genius.com/Shawn-mendes-theres-nothing-holdin-me-back-lyrics

So this got me thinking about what our readers might be curious about. I was curious to know how Richard got into D/s in the first place, so we’re going to share our Origin Stories with you.

---

Jayden

When I was in high school, my boyfriend and I were fooling around in pretty tame ways, as high schoolers often do. One day, I put my arms up above my head, and he said, “Do you want me to tie them up like that?” I don’t remember what I said, but I do remember being surprised and excited. We agreed to try it the next time I was over. I was super nervous about the whole thing, but it was a great gateway into a relationship that allowed me to explore both sides of Dominance and submission, and although it was very fumbly, I figured out a lot about myself. Thankfully, I think we’ve both learned a lot since then.

Richard

My first experience was also in high school, although I have some memories earlier that seem kink related (did anyone else think skinning your knee on the playground felt kind of good?) It was with my first girlfriend, and like Jayden’s it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. We were both switches, thought I think we both preferred to be Dominant. One particular memories stands out for me. It was in tenth grade, before we started dating, I remember standing in the middle of the band room when she asked me if I knew what watersports. At the time, the answer was only vaguely, but I think I’ve got it mostly figured out now.