Release & Restructure

Not that sort of release you dirty pervs, get your mind out of the gutter.
This will likely prove to be a far more somber entry. Mistress has been debating the appropriateness of sharing this for weeks, and after determining that it is not only appropriate but necessary, the words have been challenging to find.
Astute readers may have caught the small mention in my previous post. Among my responsibilities I shared I stated that I have or rather had two collared submissives. Mistress had two collared subs, slave allan that assisted with maintaining my blog, among other things, and who had served me faithfully for over a year as a long distance sub. And slave **** who assisted in keeping my dungeon in order, and served in person and online for oh about 6 months now.
As I've mentioned many times here, for months Mistress has been keeping an incredibly hectic schedule. Adjusting to the responsibilities and schedule that came with signing on with Princess Gemini Enterprises has proved especially challenging, but I absolutely love the experience. There aren't enough words to adequately convey how much this experience is giving to me. I clearly see Gemini's vision for her company, our company, and I am so blessed to be part of her team. While it is taxing, I would not walk away from it for anything.
My sabbatical had several hiccups and nearly failed to launch at all. New England weather lead to what should have been my last party, the budget I had planned for my trip, rescheduling for the following week. My vacation should have been 10 days, with a monetary buffer to insure my comfort until I returned. Instead, with the reschedule I could choose between carving out 5 days, 2 spent driving and a budget that didn't really include the gas to get home or putting off my trip until at least April or more realistically May. But Mistress aren't professional dommes independently wealthy and above such mundane BS like how to travel 800 miles on a shoe string? Maybe some are, Mistress Cassidy is not. Beginning in November my one on one sessions, my bread & butter, tend to slow down to a couple a week. In December, you know with all the expenses of the holidays and the uptick weather related expenses, I am happy if I see 5 clients all month. I don't know if I have ever seen a submissive in January. Sometimes February will bring a couple of brave souls out to see me, March finally starts to see my calendar filling up again and then the busy season is in full swing again. As you already know, I opted to take the 5 days rather than delay. It was the right decision.
While on my trip, each of my collared slaves asked to be released. I saw that this was likely coming at least a month before. If there were more hours in a day perhaps I could have prevented it. Perhaps I could have carved out more time to meet their needs and tend to them properly, but as often as I petition the universe for more, there are still only 24 hours in a day. Are you confused by the words I used? Tend to them, meet their needs; don't subs exist to serve their Mistress? Sure, in the spank bank world subs are mindless, patient, giving beings with no needs of their own who live on sunshine and the occasional smile from their Mistress or Master. I play with real humans though. Fragile, vulnerable, flawed humans with needs and wants of their own. They serve me, they do as I wish and do it to the best of their abilities but it is not a one way street. They need to be thanked properly. They need to be reminded that they serve me because they enjoy my company, by you know actually being in my company. They need the insights, they need to know me, to feel they serve someone worthy of their devotion. I failed to deliver those things with consistency, and I lost two devoted subs as a result. Of course I released them, nothing else would have been ethical. I sincerely wish them each the best and thank them for our time together and the services they provided.
On to restructure: 
I've made another decision about my one on one sessions. I am still sorting out the fine details about how it will work in practice, but I have decided that I will only session privately with subs under contract with, collared by me. I will no longer session privately with newbies or new to me clients. It's a huge financial risk, as I have said private sessions are what pays the bills.
I've been home from my trip for 11 days, I jumped right back into the same crazy schedule I left and I have looked at my calendar every single day & contemplated when can I fit another escape. How soon? Can I do it tomorrow? The question I needed to ask, how can a make it so I don't feel I need to escape. Oh, don't misread that, I love the people I spent time with, I will spend more time with them in the future, in the near future even. When there actually is time, not when I am stealing that time from my responsibilities. What can I change in my life so I don't need to escape it. When I sat with that question, when I really looked at what I do, what I value, and what just doesn't work, I finally saw it. I do love working with newbies. I feel a responsibility to the community that has been so good to me, to give back and play my part introducing new explorers. I do that best at parties. At a party I can give a new person a taste of what a session can be like. If there is a connection, they come back to me. A relationship can develop and I can invite them to my dungeon if I wish. Private sessions with newbies requires hours of preparation for someone who might simply not be a good match. While it pays well in the short term, it is a poor investment strategy. More than financial, the energy invested is best returned at parties. I can always earn more, I can not buy back my time.
As I fine tune how exactly I am going to implement this expect updates. In the interim if we have talked before but not sessioned yet, I will still session with you. If we haven't talked before, but you have been trying to work up the nerve to schedule now is the time.