[Ansteorra] How Much Travel is enough?

Ron Hardy rhemail at swbell.net
Sat Dec 7 20:41:21 PST 2002


Well said, Alden.

Being a laurel (or a peer of any sort I'm guessing) has little to do with
traveling and a lot to do with leadership and the respect of the people we
play this game with. It is difficult to get people to follow you in war,
take your advice about what someone can do to improve their artwork or get
help putting on an event if they don't know you or respect your artwork,
fighting or hard work. Sometimes travel is necessary for the people of
Ansteorra to get to know you and sometimes your efforts speak and travel for
you.

But 6,387 miles sounds about right.

Fritz



-----Original Message-----
From: ansteorra-admin at ansteorra.org [mailto:ansteorra-admin at ansteorra.org]On
Behalf Of Paul DeLisle
Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2002 9:47 PM
To: ansteorra at ansteorra.org
Subject: RE: [Ansteorra] How Much Travel is enough?

> > I have a question.  How much traveling is enough to become a
> Laurel?  No, I'm not asking about me.
> > Gilli

> Okay, I may be a newbie to the SCA, but I thought Laurels were given for
> excellence in the arts? What does that have to do with travelling vast
> distances?
> a very confused,
> zubeydah

Two simple questions...with no simple answers...what a night!

Let's tackle the second one first, if I may:
Recieving a Patent (i.e. a Laurel, Pelican, or Knighthood/Master of Arms) is
more than excellence in that area. It also acknowedges that you are a leader
in that field; that people can come to you with problems involving *any*
aspect of said field (not necessarily your particular specialty), and you
will either be able to help them, or easily get them to the person who
*can*. It implies an extensive knowledge of your specialty, and of the SCA;
as well as a level of leadership, maturity and ability to be able to solve
problems.

As far as the second question, Gilli:
6,387 miles per year, minimum.
C'mon, man...you *know* there is no answer to this!...The members of *any*
Peerage look at different aspects ...well....differently. Some value travel
more than others. Some want to see a candidate dress very well before even
being considered. Some want to see a Kingdom-level office under their belt
before being considered. Some are more concerned with the candidate's
visibility to the Kingdom (not necessarily how much they travel...) Some
want to see a concrete achievement (winning several major tournaments, being
a finalist/winner in several consecutive Kingdom A&S's, sucessfully
completing a stint as Kingdom Seneschal, etc.) Some will *never* vote for a
candidate because they don't like said candidate, and can't get past it. (I
know, it's petty; but sadly, Peers are people too.)
So...don't ask questions you already know the answer to, just to stir the
pot, eh?  (*s*)
IMHO, the best thing  that a potential candidate can do, is to ignore the
buzzing of those "above" them (*and* of those "below" them, pushing for them
to be Peers), and concentrate on doing what they think needs to be done, and
doing it in the best and most useful way possible. As (I believe) Sir
William of Wier once said (some 20 years ago):

First, you decide to become a Knight.
Then you spend years becoming a Knight.
Then you spend more years trying to convince everyone that you're a Knight.
Then you decide to quit trying to be a Knight.
Then they put a white belt around your waist, because that's what Knights
wear.

In Service, I remain
Alden Pharamond
Tempio, Ansteorra
(Olde Don, and curmudgeon-in-training)

In Life, as in Judo... sometimes you win by relaxing.


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