[Ansteorra] Love and recognition

[Michael Silverhands]

On Sep 26, 2006, at 5:55 AM, Kelley Ross wrote:

> To me, no matter the motive, a person's donations to our society  
> are worthy
> and cherished.  As long as the efforts made are to better our  
> kingdom, no
> one should be scrutinized for the source of their motivation.
>
> Yours in Service and Song,
> Lady Angelique Le Woulfe
>

Lady Angelique,

You raise a pivotal point. Two, actually.

One: how can we determine someone's motives in the first place? We  
can't, really. The last time I checked, none of us were very good  
mind-readers. So how can we judge whether someone is "in it for love"  
or "in it for the awards"? Well... we can't, unless they *tell* us  
what their motivation is, or until we see what they do after they get  
all the awards. (See below.)

Two: what difference does a person's motive make? Ah... here is the  
"sticking point".

If a person is in it primarily for the recognition and the awards,  
then once they have achieved all the awards there are (and there's a  
pretty short list of them), they will presumably move on. True, it's  
a short-term benefit to the society. But in the long term, the  
society is not well served since they will move on just about the  
time they have reached the point where they are most depended on and  
could do the most good for others.

If a person is in it mainly for the self-fulfillment, then they will  
continue to serve the society regardless of rewards. Tivar said,  
"...I "maxed out" on awards over 25 years ago, but I still play  
because I enjoy it...". In the long term, the society has been very  
well served by Tivar and those like him. How many have benefited by  
the work that he continues to do, the lessons that he continues to  
teach, and the example that he continues to set?

So: short term, it doesn't make any difference. At any particular  
weekend's event, whatever help you get is welcome. But long term, it  
makes all the difference in the world.

Here's another way of looking at that: how effective would an army be  
if everyone in it got out after 2 years? What if nobody stuck around  
to learn how to teach or lead? What if the moment someone was given a  
medal or promoted to officer rank, they got out?

Finally, this comes back to another frequent topic, "honor" versus  
"glory". If you're in it for glory, your star will be bright but  
short-lived. If you're in it for honor, your star will shine brightly  
but from within -- and may, in fact, never be noticed by anyone but you.

Bottom line, we're *all* in this to serve ourselves and our own  
needs, wants and desires. That's human nature. It's just that some  
people see (or care about) only their own *immediate* interests...  
while others see that their own interests are better served if the  
society in which they live is thriving... and *that* only happens if  
we give back as much as we get.

My two farthings.

Kind regards,
Michael Silverhands