Review of Contestant & Titleholder Appreciation, 2012

NOTE: HUGE amounts of pictures from this event may be found HERE.

Well, if you are the kind of person who appreciates honest acknowledgment of good people's virtues and values, you would have loved this event. We HAVE to make it an annual event.

On Sunday, September 9, 2012, a whole bunch of very fine people showed up at the Bamboo Lounge to participate in something wonderful.

It started out as a way to give the outgoing Ms. and Mr. San Diego Leather 2011 titleholders a chance to share their experience without any time-limits, but it quickly grew into a way to show love and approval for:

- The older folks who have been titleholders
- The outgoing titleholders
- The current titleholders, and the men who competed at the contest, indicating their willingness to step up on behalf of us all.
- the folks in the crowd who have already started getting ready to run for a title.
- The folks who have never held a title, but who care deeply about those who do.

It was a Love Fiesta.

An event simply does NOT get more high-minded than this. Only a truly stable, solid and dependably kind community can pull something like this off.  No factions hissing and spitting at each other, no drama, and no fear of being disrespected somehow. Just pure, simple love. When you look at the many pictures, you can see utter relaxation, lack of artifice, and complete transparency in every face.

I'm going to bring up Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs. Hey - It's my blog, I can get wonkish.

We all need to know that we are loved, respected and needed - It's how primates evolved to this point. All humans need to know that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, our insecurities and our petty fears.

You'll notice that "Esteem: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition" is a prerequisite to becoming fully self-actualized.  If the people in these pictures are going to attain true serenity, joy and wisdom in their lifetimes, they have to have a solid basis of community support to move upward from. There are no shortcuts. Lucky them - they are in the right place, and at the right time.

I rejoice that our community is achieving more and more very, very high-level events. I can't imagine how our Tribe could get any better, but it just does. I look forward to the future with great pleasure and anticipation.