Where I anwser the "30 Day" thingy in one honking huge post.

Day 1 – Does your submission – either what you practice or what you strive for – have a label? Do you view your submission as Taken in Hand, domestic discipline, top/bottom, dominant/submissive, master/slave, owner/pet, or some other description or combination? If you do not use a label, why?

Yes. We use the "Dominant & submissive" (D/s) label for our relationship as we feel that is what best reflects who we are as a couple.

Day 2 – Describe who you might submit to and how. Are you exclusively submissive in marriage or just in the bedroom? Are you submissive only in the context of a scene or in a role or throughout your daily life? Are you submissive to play partners or only in the context of a relationship?

I am submissive exclusively to my husband, and our dynamic runs 24/7.
If I were in the market (Dog forbid) for a new Dominant partner, I would look for someone who was interested in a monogamous, long term relationship because in order to submit I need the stability, trust, and respect that is more often found in a serious partner. The limits of my submission within the relationship would be defined by how much trust my partner inspired, how much mutual respect we shared, and how stable the relationship was.

Day 3 – How do you know you are submissive or have the potential to be submissive? How do you feel when you express your submission?

This question is a bit like asking "How do you know you're compassionate"? It's really just something a person knows from their interactions with other people. I know I'm submissive because I am (within the context of a committed relationship and as an orientation, not a personality characteristic).
How do I feel? Fulfilled.

Day 4 – Do you switch into a dominant role at any time? If you are in a domestic discipline relationship, are there things that you maintain control over? Are you a “switch” in BDSM terms? If not, have you ever thought about it or given thought to why it’s not for you

A) No. I do not take the Dominant role in my relationship.
B) I retain control over my children, decisions regarding my health, and my kitchen. Seriously, Manperson better stay out of my kitchen. I'm OCD about it. I also fail to see what DD has to do with limiting a D-type's authority, limited authority is not limited to one type of dynamic.
C) I do not switch, but I can Top as a service.

Day 5 – Have you been or are you in a dominant/submissive dynamic relationship or is this new to you? Have you been in more than one D/s relationship? How were they the same? How were they different? What is unique about your relationships in your mind?

A) I had previously played with a friend, but that was more about kinky fun times than a D/s dynamic. Cookie is my first long term Dominant partner. More than likely my last as well- I kind of hit a home run with him.
B) What makes us unique? The fact that we don't practice our dynamic the exact same way any other couple does. Pretty much every D/s relationship is unique because the people in it are unique... Silly Question-Asker.

Day 6 – What do you feel are the roots of your submission? Do you think it has something to do with childhood? Is it a relationship management tool as in the practice of domestic discipline? Is it a sexual thrill or something else?

I don't think it has any "roots", I wasn't traumatized as a child or raised to be submissive, it's not a management tool or a sex thing... It is what it is- The way I feel most fulfilled in a relationship.

Day 7 – Do you accept and/or expect discipline or punishments as a part of your submission? How do you feel about it?

No. I am an adult woman capable of considering my actions before I take them, and to realize that those actions will have consequences. I do not need my significant other to punish me as if I had no sense of my own. If he tried I would feel rather resentful.

Day 8 – Is spanking or corporal punishment a part of your submission? Why or why not?

Spanking is a sexy fun time game. He swats my bum, I enjoy it, end of.

Day 9 – Do you accept and/or expect structure, rules and limits as a part of your submission? How do you feel about them?

We have "rules" I suppose, but I see them more as guidelines to maintaining a healthy relationship. If he wants me to go to bed at a certain time it's because he's concerned that I'm over tired. If he wants me to call when I get to a location it's because he's concerned about my well-being... He doesn't just make up rules for shits and giggles, there's always a reasonable explanation. If there wasn't, I would not be inclined to follow them.

Day 10 – Does any element of BDSM occur as a part of your submissive relationships? How do you feel about BDSM? Is it core to your submission, peripheral or non-existent (other than the submission part)?

Well, yes, seeing as part of the BDSM acronym is Dominance and submission. But if you mean "Do we incorporate kinky play into our dynamic," the answer is yes. But D/s is who we are, kink is what we do for fun, so I would say that it is peripheral as it is not the focus of our relationship or my submission.

Day 11 – Do you include service as a part of your expectations of your submission? How do you define service? What does it mean to you? If not, what is it about the concept of service that is not for you?

A) No. I am not service oriented.
B) Well, service has a definition which (I think) runs along the lines of doing for others.
C) I think that service oriented subs get some satisfaction from doing for their D-types, so that's what service implies to me in this context.
D) I just don't enjoy it so I do not identify as a service oriented submissive.

Day 12 – Do you include financial submission within the definition of your own submission and if yes, how does it manifest itself? If no, is there a particular reason why? Are you familiar with the concepts of financial submission? Do you have an opinion about financial submission in general?

A) In a way, yes.
B) For us it means that Cookie is in control of the finances. When I was working my check went into his bank account. He pays the bills. He does not dictate what I can and cannot do with my own money though.
C) I think it's something to consider very carefully before implementing.

Day 13 – Is sexual availability, being available to your partner any time he or she wants, part of your submission? Why or why not? Are there limits to this?

I suppose, but just as I'm available to him, he is also available to me.
Yes there are limits. For example: If one of us is ill the other will not expect to get the hot sexings, or if one of us has had a horrid day sexings might not be in the cards... We are both considerate of the other's emotional and physical well-being.

Day 14 – Does religion have any bearing on your decision to submit? If not, are you familiar with religious based submission and do you view it as similar to other types of submission or dissimilar?

No. We are Atheists.
It's similar if it is a relationship dynamic that the submissive partner consents to and feels is fulfilling.
The similarity ends if it is not something she consents to, if it doesn't fulfill her, and she's only doing it because her religious beliefs or those of her partner demand it.

Day 15 – Has your submission evolved over time? If so, how has it evolved for you and if not (or if you are just starting out) how might you see or imagine it evolving in the future?

It has evolved as my relationship has evolved. The more trust I was able to place in Cookie, the more authority I was willing to grant him.

Day 16 – Have you found your submission has changed with different partners/relationships? If you’re involved with partners of both sexes, does your submission relate or change based on gender or does it depend on the person?

Yes because no two relationships are exactly the same.

Day 17 – What does trust mean to you in the context of submission?

It means that I have faith that he will do what is in our best interest and will not do something that may cause me harm. I can have this faith in him because he has, over time, proven himself to be a person of great integrity who values me and our relationship.

Day 18 – Very often the stereotype of submission is that the submissive person loses the ability to have an opinion. While that clearly isn’t true except in the absolute rarest of occasions, how does communication factor into your submission and how do you communicate your desires and needs?

Sweet Dog, we talk about everything. The weather, our dreams, kinky shit we want to try, politics... I don't think we ever stop talking to each other.
And I communicate my desires and needs much in the same way anybody else would- I open my mouth and words come out.

Day 19 – How socially connected is your submission? Do you look for others to talk to about your submission for support or networking? Do you go to events or connect through another sort of social grouping either in person or online?

I'm fairly active in the online community because it fills a need to have some connectedness to other people with similar relationship goals.

Day 20 – Has your submission increased or decreased over time? Have you ever had to renegotiate your submission due to a change in your feelings or circumstance?

I wouldn't say it has increased because I think I've always had the same goal in mind for how much of it I was able to express. I think what changed was my ability to express my submission because my partner is receptive and an eager participant. If that makes sense.

Day 21 – Is there a physical position that makes you feel most submissive?

Nope.

Day 22 – Can you feel submissive without a dominant partner? If so, how does your submission express itself? If not, how do you handle your submission or submissive feelings?

No. Submission is not a personality trait for me, but how I orient in a relationship. Without a relationship present where I can express this part of myself it does not happen. It might be something I desire, but it's not a priority for me to express it when I'm not in a relationship.

Day 23 – Is there anything about submission (yours or what you see in others) that you question, dislike or repels you? Was there a time you questioned or were resistant to your own submissive feelings?

A) I find the notion that submissive equals "Less Than" to be rather repugnant. I get that it's a dynamic that plenty of people enjoy, but the stereotype is what squicks me... I am not worth less than a dominant person, I am not less deserving of common decency or consideration because I identify as a submissive. I have value.
B) Yes. I had a hard time reconciling submission with feminism. In time I decided to become a secular humanist as I felt that more accurately represented my views and I was feeling more and more disconnected from the direction the feminist movement seems to be taking.

Day 24 – What are the emotions that most directly let you access submission? What feelings do they inspire?

There are not any. I do not equate submission to an emotional state- But then I'm part Vulcan so I guess that's just logical.

Day 25 – Are there items, objects or rituals that represent or help you express submission? If not, have you ever thought of adding or being gifted one? Is there a special significance to these objects or rituals?

A) No.
B) It has not occurred to me or something I desire.

Day 26 – What are the qualities you seek in a dominant partner and why? Are some qualities deal-breakers as in “must” haves or “must not” have?

A)His Qualities:
Honest
Loyal
Intelligent
Funny
Committed (and not to the looney bin)
An all around decent sort of human being.
B) Whys should he have those traits? Because I tend to think that those traits are what make a person a good dominant for me.
C) Deal Breakers would be:
Dishonesty
Non-monogamous
Lacking intelligence or having a small mind
Lacking a sense of humor
Misogynists are off the list
Abusive tendencies are a no-go
And I could go on and on and on... But I think you get the gist.

Day 27 – Do you have submissive desires or fantasies that you have yet to be able to explore? Do some of your desires confuse or frighten you? Do they excite you?

I have desires for specific types of play which have not happened yet, but we might get there eventually. If we do that's cool. If we don't it's not a big deal. Though I wouldn't say they were "submissive desires" just desires that include my being submissive to him because he's my Domly and all.

Day 28 – Has your submission ever let you down? Have you ever been criticized for your submission? Have you ever regretted being or feeling submissive in a moment or in a relationship? Have you ever looked back and realized you made a mistake and how did you handle your submission going forward from that?

A) How could it? It's not something I rely on.
B) Sure, but the people who have done the criticizing don't matter so it doesn't matter.
C) No. My submission does not impact my life negatively.
D) No. So long as I'm true to myself I'm not likely to make a mistake that would cause me regret.

Day 29 – Is pain or humiliation (spankings for example) a part of your submission? What is your relationship to it? Do you embrace it as a part of your submission, tolerate it as necessary or have some other type of relationship with it?

No. Kinky shit is not part of my submission it is part of my play. They're not interconnected for me.

Day 30 – Is your need to submit being met? If not, or if your situation changed, do you think that you could continue in your life and still be happy/content if you were never able to express your submission in the way that feels best to you again? What makes submission special to you?

A) Yes.
B) In all likelihood, yes.
C) Submission on its own is not special to me, it's the relationship and the person I submit to that make it feel like a thing of value. Cookie is awesome, he thinks I'm awesome, our relationship is awesome, and so to me my submission to him is awesome. It's part of a larger picture.