Peer Fear (was: Re: Peerage Stuff Re: Why I Hate Fencing)

[Jeanne C. Stapleton]

> SierraSunset wrote:
> 
> > I'm curious:  is there anyone out there reading this now who has
> > or had a genuine bottomline case of peer fear?  What is the
> > dialogue that runs through your head as to why you cannot approach
> > someone with a peerage to ask them a question or favor or for
> > assistance, even if they are 
> *snip*
> 
>   I USED to.  My feeling was generally awe and a serious dose of
> self-consciousness. The dialogue went something like, "I wasn't as
> GOOD (in _every_ sense of the word) as they were and they had such
> power."  I think a lot of this came from the attitude my ex had
> about them. Basically what changed me was getting to know them.  Sir
> Galen, Master Tivar, Mistress Aethelian are the first ones I got to
> know.  Then there was Master Iolo and Sir Pendaren.  These good
> nobles did a great deal for me in helping me realize my own worth as
> an individual.   So I guess when I got into a relationship with one
> (Mistress Gunnora) I was cured of the fear. Then, I found that I had
> some of the best friends in the world that I have ever had. Most of
> these people are the most helpful and insightful people in the
> world.  You need to know something that is period, any of them are
> willing to help.
> 
I recall feeling as if many of the peers I knew had everything well
in hand,never lost their tempers, always expressed themselves
calmly and fluently; and then I got into a peerage circle and 
discovered that they were all human after all.

I don't know that I ever felt that any peer was a better person than
I was; but I am still in awe of any person of any rank who does any
art with skill, enthusiasm and most of all passion.  Many of these 
people are peers; some just aren't peers yet.

> Enough of my ramblings.
> -- 
>                     Damaris of Greenhill
>                  "mead brewer extrodinaire"
>  Azure, three labryses in pall inverted with hafts to center
>                     within a bordure, or
>                             ****
>     I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a
>    vegetarian because I hate plants. -- A. Whitney Brown.
> 
> quom probus quom fides.
Countess Berengaria de Montfort de Carcassonne, OP
Barony of Caerthe
Kingdom of the Outlands