Happy 5 year blogging anniversary!

It's hard to believe that we started our blog 5 years ago. I can remember the day that another blogger suggested that I start a blog of my own. I really wasn't sure what to write about and didn't think my life was too exciting at that time. I wondered who would want to read our blog and doubted my writing abilities a lot. She set up our blog for us and I sat there trying to figure out what to say. I had been reading blogs for a long time before I started my own. I wrote that first blog post and got several comments on it which surprised me. People were very welcoming from the blogging community. I started to get really into writing and even wrote some erotic stories in those early days. I really need to start doing that again. I miss it. There was a few times that I came close to deleting this blog and had my finger on the delete key. Blogging can become very time consuming. Also there is a risk of opening yourself up. Sometimes we got some very negative comments. You learn right away that you need a thick skin when you get into public blogging. Master Anakin stopped me a few times from walking away from this blog. I am glad now that he stopped me from making a mistake. I have come to really enjoy blogging and have made it a journal of our journey. I often look back on old posts and remember feelings or special times. We have always posted lots of pictures too of our journey and I enjoy remembering some play times with Master and also other people too. There was a lot of pressure in that first year to try to cater to the readers and build a spanking blog in the beginning. Our stats went through the roof as we posted almost all spanking material on our blog. I was really bored though and felt like it was more of a job than enjoyment to blog. I'd spend hours interviewing other bloggers or trying to keep up with our many different themed posts we had going. The only themed posts we do on a regular basis now are HNT (Half-Nekkid Thursday) pictures. Spanking is a part of my Master and I's journey but there is so much more to our relationship. We are poly and had other people in our lives with playing and also relationships. We have bdsm play and enjoy rough sex. We have an interesting dynamic as Master and slave. He is my owner and we have been in the bdsm lifestyle since 1997. We are both experienced in many areas of bdsm although always learning new things. We've had some really amazing experiences through the years, especially after we both got into the bdsm community in Vancouver. We've been to Rascal's and play parties. I've been to MVK and Libido Lounge and Sin City. I started a munch and was proud to get people together from this area for that. I learned a lot about myself after playing in public and trying out Topping for the first time. It was great to be able to blog about it all and share our journey with the readers. We've had over two million readers to Journey to the Darkside. Some days we get lots of readers and other times not as many. Our stats go up and down but I've stopped worrying whether or not we'll get any readers. Many regular readers continue to come to our blog and read about our adventures. We've been called a "legend" amongst some people and well known around the bdsm/spanking/sex blogging community. We have a successful online store which has gotten a lot of business through the years. Master's idea was to start Darkside Digital Arts and we have both been surprised at how well it does. Thank you to everyone who has supported our store. We are both very proud of it. I have been published in a book which was very exciting. I am proud to have been a part of The Peep Diaries. I was glad to be a part of that and see my name in a book at our local Chapter's. It got me several interviews including the Globe and Mail. I have felt like a little bit of a celebrity at times due to this blog. This book made it onto Oprah's list of 25 books you can't put down. I had no idea how big this book would become and what has happened since it came out. We were offered a chance to be a part of the documentary for the Peep Diaries but turned it down because it felt too public for us. It was very flattering to be asked though. I was even asked to star in a few spanking movies through the years. I was sent a script from my old friend, Master Mark who wanted me to star in the spanking movie he was making. There was other offers from other companies too. I've had to turn it all down though. Master and I are very private people. It has been a bit tempting sometimes to get more public but there have always been worries about stalkers and other weird people and thought this might get worse if we got even more known. I've gotten some very strange e-mails through the years and even a few which were a bit threatening. I am really just a slave and a mom and a very simple girl. I don't want to be a celebrity and feel uncomfortable when people try to say that I am. I'm just a girl who started a blog and wasn't expecting anyone to even have read it. I have gone through life experiences and shared it with my blog. I have cried over some posts and others have kept me up at night trying to write and get my feelings out. There's been lots of drama and heartbreak as well as all the fun and exciting times we've had. Journey to the Darkside has had it all through the last 5 years. We have written 2,553 posts through the last 5 years of blogging. Amazing!! Although I have been the one to do most of the writing, Anakin has always been a big part of this journey. He comments on all my posts and always gives me his feedback. He's also the one who has taken most of our pictures and contributed a lot for our HNT ones. He was always the creative mind behind Journey to the Darkside. I can't imagine not blogging now. It's become a part of my life. I enjoy it a lot and look to the future in my writing ambitions. I have some really great ideas for future blog posts and things that I want to share on my blog. I hope you will all continue to join us on our journey...our Journey to the Darkside. We appreciate all your comments and support and friendship. It has meant a lot to us both. Happy 5 year blogging anniversary Journey to the Darkside!! May the force be with you all!! ~padme amidala