SCA vs. Reality

[Joel Schumacher]

> > Baron Bors writes:
> > >Back about a year ago my wife asked me a question.
> > >"What would you do if the SCA no longer existed?" I couldn't answer.  
>
> Your wife asked you the wrong question.     It should have been "What
> would you do if all of your friends no longer existed?"   (all 30,000 of
> them)   What would you do if you COULDN'T go anywhere in the country &
> much of the world knowing you would find friends and 'family'???        
> I know MY life would be much emptier.       

I used to be a member of a very controlling religion growing up.  Some
called it a cult.  So, after leaving I read up on the subject of cults.

One of the things a cult promotes is total emersion in it's own community,
rejecting the outside.  This keeps people circulating with their own.
This protects the cult from outside, damaging influence.

The cult promotes a one-ness, a feeling that the best place to be is in
the cult.

Once the member is no longer a part of the outside world, they are afraid
to leave.  Often (as in my former religion), people were no longer
familiar with life outside.  They had begun to believe all sorts of
misconceptions.  "How terrible it is to live in the world.  Our values
are so high, where are we going to find people of this caliber in the
world?  All the people of the world are bad, except us".

The other fear was separation from friends, since all your friends were
part of this community.  People also expressed (as I see here) that they
could go anywhere in the world and find other members which would welcome
them and treat them as friends.  Fear of ex-communication, in essensce
revoking all of your friends, was a great controlling factor.

Believe it or not, to some, this is very attractive.  Many people go
through a lonely time in their lives.  Groups which are willing to add
them to an instant community are very appealing.

Before the flames start, I'm not saying the SCA is a cult.  One cult in a
lifetime is enough for me.  If I thought the SCA was a cult, I wouldn't be
part of it.  The SCA does not control our lives to that extent.

However, I do think that some people have drifted into this sort of
communal way of life on their own.  Look at some of the experiences.  How
much time does it take from your life?  Is it a hobby or does your entire
social life revolve around the SCA?

Look at the quote above.  If there were no SCA, this person thinks he
would loose friends he may not even know because they are no longer part
of the same group.

If you are so strongly attached to this community way of life, there's
many with the same claims ready to take you in.

SCA or not, people with your interests are out there.  I've been to Ren-
faire's where the craftspeople have never heard of the SCA, yet they enjoy
doning period clothing and performing middle-ages crafts.

There is life outside of the SCA if you find it.  Perhaps much more life
because it isn't restricted to "period" activities.

Maybe you've learned to sew in the SCA.  So are you going to make tunics
and period clothing all your life or go designer your own modern fashions?

Maybe you've learned leatherworking.  You can create much more than just
armor.  Just go to a Tandy Leather and look at all the projects available.

Enjoy the combat?  Take up martial arts.

What about your free time?  Is all your time currently taken up preparing
for events, going to events, going to populace meetings, fighter
practices, and the like?

When was the last time you took up a new hobby or enjoyed a modern one?
Sailing, (maybe not in Ansteorra, but) skiing, volunteer work, or just
a game of poker?

Point is, has the SCA become a cultish community to you?  Have you dropped
all your outside ties?  All of your outside activities?  Is your real life
really "mundane"?

Maybe this is fine for some people.  Escapes are exactly for that purpose,
escaping.  The SCA is a wonderful escape.  It's not something I would want
to live and breath, but I do enjoy it when I do participate.

The SCA vanishing would affect all of us, but those who have made it their
entire life will hurt more than others.
__________________________________________________________________________
Joel Schumacher                        JCPenney Co. - UNIX Network Systems
jschumac at uns-dv1.jcpenney.com          12700 Park Central Pl
(972) 591-7543                         Dallas TX  75251