Feeling my way in the Dark

[mythteller]

I went to my first Tactile Party this weekend. Fortunately, the hosts of this party have a room in their basement for the Tactile Party and the living room was for socializing, which took some of the pressure off. I didn't know what to expect from this type of experience and I wanted to have a neutral place to hang while I tried to decide if I wanted to try it.

Fortunately, there were more people I knew at this party than I expected, so it helped me to relax. I also had the chance to reconnect with knotty_mark that I had not seen since KG 2005.

So I chatted, flirted, and reconnected with some old friends. After a bit, I decided I wanted to try the Dark Room (which was where the Tactile experience was actually taking place). I made sure sarahcarotte was cool with it (who was flirting with knotty_mark at the time *grin*), and I headed downstairs.

The Dark Room wasn't just DARK, it was pitch black. My eyes could not re-adjust, so I could see absolutely nothing. Robbed of my sense of sight, I started to crawl around (so I wouldn't step on anyone) and announced myself. Folks were helpful and tried to help me move about; I settled in a spot and took in the experience.

Some people were having a conversation, but I could hear other people moving about around me. If I were to guess what was going on in the dark, I would say there was a liberal amount of massage, some making-out, and some stuff that was a bit more involved.

But I just didn't know what I was supposed to do; I was at a complete loss at what the etiquette was for this situation. So I sat in the dark for a bit and then crawled out. Upstairs, I chatted with some folks about my half-experience and was re-assured that a few others felt the same way about it.

On Sunday, we headed out for the monthly Pagan brunch which was surprisingly well-attended (considering the rain) with over 20 people in attendance! With the Tam Tams rained out, we just headed back to my place for tea and conversation until bastdanica and Ja headed back to Ottawa.

The rest of us (including crimson_prime) headed out Hurley's for the Irish storytelling and met up with knotty_mark and ladygiggles. It was a late night. *yawn*

All in all, a very enjoyable weekend filled with new experiences and fine company.

Comments

[photogeek-mtl.livejournal.com]

> The Dark Room wasn't just DARK, it was pitch black.

:-) knotty_mark and I spent quite a bit of time making sure that no light got in at all. I think we were pretty successful...

Your feedback on the rest of the experience is useful --- I've been going to these kind of parties for probably 7 years, so it's easy to forget what it's like on a first experience. I guess I should probably have a cheat sheet for new attendees or something...

Normally I'd recommend going downstairs with a friend or two for your first experience and hanging out with them. You can also just go downstairs and crawl around until you find someone or something to interact with. Massaging/cuddling is good, as is playing with some of the toys that were floating around, like the fur mittens.

I hope that overall you enjoyed yourself. I'll probably throw another one in October some time.

I'd hope it's obvious, but there's absolutely no pressure to actually go downstairs --- if you'd rather stay upstairs and socialize in the light, that's fine.

[jdhobbes.livejournal.com]

I felt no pressure to go downstairs, other than simple curiousity. I did appreciate having the upstairs be an open socializing place though.

People were friendly and helpful. I was just generally overwhelmed by the whole thing. I'll be more experimental next time.

Thanks for having me at it!