ES - Post to Rialto Re: How does one become a knight

[Ceinwen]

This post from the Rialto was so well put, I thought you all might like
to ponder on it as well.  The original post was someone asking, "What
does one do to become a knight?"

Re: Knightly Questions
Date: 15 Apr 1998 17:40:26 GMT
From: yahoudi at eagle.cc.ukans.edu ([Yahoudi])
Organization: University of Kansas Computing Services
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
References: 1 , 2
Arval d'Espas Nord (mittle at panix.com) wrote:
>Greetings from Arval!
>I'll bet that a lot of people will feel that anyone who follows a checklist
>in pursuit of a knighthood has pretty much disqualified himself from the
>start.  I'm not sure that ought to be true, but I think many people will be
>bothered by the thought that anyone would expect to achieve an award by
>climbing a pre-defined ladder.  Perhaps the problem is that it smacks too
>much of pre-meditation: If you set out to become a peer, many people will
>think that you've failed from the start.

Reply from Giraude:
        Too true -- if you are doing something only to seek public 
recognition, or are pursuing an elevated position for the sake of vanity 
or political gain, there is something missing.
        But a lot of us have grown up with the "merit badge" philosophy
of earning recognition...you fulfill the published requirements, and you
get another badge to sew to your sash.  The goal is often just to have 
more badges than anybody else, and if something is learned by going 
through the motions, it's just gravy.  It's not surprising that people 
come into the SCA wanting to know the pre-defined steps are for getting 
awards...the mundane world is so focused on things like trophy cases, 
resume-builders, and anything else that can give one a competitive edge 
that it's easy to assume that it should work that way in the SCA, too 
(as it sometimes does).
        Of course, if one admires one's local peers and aspires to be 
more like them because of the finer qualities and skills they possess, 
this is not a bad thing.  Even here, tho', the goal should be personal 
growth, not the attainment of public honor.  Most of us probably
daydream 
about receiving major awards...I think this is a normal and healthy
thing
to do...but if the pursuit of recognition becomes the focus of our 
activities, we only eat away at our own true enjoyment of learning 
and become ruthless (and/or bitter if what we feel is our due is not
given to us).   

        Just my $.02....

                                Giraude
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