NR - Principality

[Susan O'Neal]

At 06:18 AM 9/6/00 -0500, you wrote:
>Perhaps not having the population to support a Kingdom is a good
>thing.  It would give us a chance to be a Principality without
>worrying that they would want to force us into being a Kingdom.
>
>Hawkins


As someone who is relativly new to this, I have been reading and trying to 
cull through all the posts to know what to save.  I have heard many people 
express differing ideas both for and against Principality and I will start 
with a preface, I have only been playing 14 months and know that there is 
much history, personality clash and differences, that effect the current 
discussion.  In looking at the streangths of the SCA and why it has become 
a large part of our lives, it has to do with the honor of the people 
involved and their dedication to something greater than themselves.  When 
coming from such diverse points, both in the society and mundanly; one has 
to sacrifice some of what you want personally and look at what will 
strengthen the group you love so much.  All of the arguements I have heard 
lead me to believing that Principality will bring greater strength to the 
Dream we live.  It will allow us to have identity that is more than just 
being a region, but does not sever the link to Ansteorra.  I firmly believe 
that those who travel will continue to do so, but for those of us where it 
isn't really an option; there will be more of the magic and pagentry that 
make The Dream live.

The greatest thing to watch for is the division and hurt that can come 
through discussions/arguemnents.  For the group to look at the differing 
options and what they will entail requires a great deal of honesty and 
openness and a forum where people feel safe discussing things.  The duel 
nature of things taking place in a virtual arena and also at round tables 
at local events over the next few months, is one in which there is not a 
great number of presidences for.  I have recently watched a community be 
ripped apart when things took place in an online forum and then affected 
the people that they regularly met with.  I feel that we must dilligently 
guard against devisivness as we work through this process.  The other thing 
that has to be kept forefront in peoples minds is that people have 
completly differnent mindsets about how to argue and discuss things.  This 
can lead to people reading offence in when a person intended none, but was 
just wanting to clarify ideas.  I truely believe that honor will reign here 
and we can work to come to a consensus of what will best serve those in the 
region and remember that consensus doesn't mean that all agree, but that 
they can support a given decision for the good of the group.

Susan the Curious

============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.