It's been a LONG time since I've done any rope work. Probably close to a year. But as I found out after just a few moments, that it really was a lot like riding a bike. I picked it up and as soon as I started running the lines around the body for a basic chest harness, it all came flooding back.
I'll admit... I was quite nervous at first. And more so once everyone decided to come watch me. Fuck, I like the spotlight but that was a little awkward for me. I mean... I have barely even touched rope in a year or so and now there's a dozen people that all decided "hey, Joe's tying up Spiel Mit Mir downstairs. Let's go watch! We never see him play" or something. All the while, I'm just trying to get myself back up on that horse. It would be like if an athlete didn't play for a couple years and then everyone crowded around to watch him tie his skates and glide out on the ice for the first time. All he's trying to do is hope he doesn't fall on his face. That's all I was doing. I just didn't wanna fall on my face. Or rather, let my rope bottom fall on hers. Cause... you know... that's a bad thing.
Even if they're suspended above sand.The thing is... it was just an odd night for me in a number of ways. I haven't done pick-up play in going on 3 years now. No joke. The last just random pick-up play with someone that I wasn't dating or sleeping with was at COPE in 2009. So I was already a little off because I didn't have that existing connection to make it easier or more comfortable. I was already a little off before I picked up the rope.
Throw the audience that randomly appeared on top of that and it was definitely a little uncomfortable for me.
But this was one of those cases where I just totally ignored them. Everyone sitting around looking. I just blocked them out. Normally, I'd play to that, but this time... I just needed to focus on getting the first couple runs right. Get used to the feeling of the rope in my hands again. Let it come back to me. But once I got the chest harness done and was starting onto the thighs & ass, I kinda realized that a lot of my past knowledge was coming back. Slowly but steadily. Picking up some steam as it flowed back into my brainbox. I was starting to feel comfortable again. Not completely. But I was feeling... competent. Not skilled. Not even "good". Just competent. And that's all I needed for tonight. I needed to feel like I knew what I was doing and also knew the limitations of my muscle memory for tying.
I eventually played to the audience a little. Just some basic "you're up in the air, now fly!" type things. But nothing major.
I feel like I'm getting back on that horse slowly. And it's something I'd like to do more of in the near future. It was fun and I've kinda got those floodgates opened back up. I want to feel the rope in my hands again. I want to start running those lines around a body. I want to pull and lift and bind and control again. I want to build back all the muscle memory that I HAVE lost and get better than I was before.
Rigging was always something that I was proficient at, but not great. And I think this time around, I want to get good. I don't want it to just be another tool in my bag of tricks. Something that is done just to get to some other activity.But I can promise that it won't be done on sand again anytime soon. At least not sand at my house. Because the Tropical Paradise Beach Basement Suspensions are a thing of the past. Sand inside is just really not a good idea. The last hurrah for it was for Sybele's birthday. Because an Arabian Nights theme NEEDED sand.
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