RF - Fwd: ANST - If You Only Knew...

[Lorraine and/or Kief]

another one I thought ya'll might be interested in
L


>From: "C.L. Ward"<gunnora at bga.com>
>Reply-To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
>To: owner-ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG (ansteorra)
>Subject: ANST - If You Only Knew...
>Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 16:08:06 -600
>
>Tadhgh said:
> >No, it's not. I know Gunnora well enough to know that
> >this is just hypocritical cant on her part. I object
> >to hypocrisy even more than I object to vice.
>
>I'm virtually certain, Tadhgh, that you don't know me at all, other than 
>via
>the posts in this forum.  You might be able to pick me out of a lineup, but
>I know for a fact you haven't interacted with me anywhere near enough to 
>understand
>my beliefs. You simply haven't been active enough, except electronically, 
>to
>have any reasonable measure. And without that understanding I don't think 
>you
>can make an accusation such as hypocrisy.
>
>There is no hypocrisy in stating the facts -- that SCA awards don't mean a 
>thing
>-- what does mean something is that someone, or many someones, cared enough
>about you to recommend you for it.
>
>Let's see, what else might be being labelled hypocrisy -- that if you do 
>what
>you love, and concentrate on having fun, that in all likelihood eventually 
>someone
>will hang a peerage on you?  Well, obviously that does happen.
>
>You may also be ignoring the fact that I've been talking about the best 
>plan
>of action -- which is to concentrate on having fun, doing what you love, 
>and
>aspiring to live as a Lion.  If you're conflating that with what *actually 
>does
>happen*, which is that people *do* fight and squabble and scratch to get 
>awards,
>then I can understand your confusion.  I'm saying that people will be much 
>happier
>if they ignore the awards altogether and just work at having fun.
>
>What makes the SCA worthwhile, and why we do it instead of attending karate
>tournaments or juried art shows etc. is that the activities and the social 
>interactions
>*are*, in and of themselves, rewarding.
>
>I've fought since around 1980 -- and I guarantee you I don't have any 
>awards
>for fighting, and no likelihood that I'm suddenly going to get enough 
>better
>to become a Centurion or a Knight after all these years.  The reason I 
>fight
>is because it's fun -- the same reason I like rollercoasters.  It's its own
>reward.  I don't even much care if I win or not (well, mostly), because I 
>have
>fun just stepping onto the field and knowing that I look good.  Plus I know
>that I die well, and that people are entertained when I fight, at least for
>the brief while before I get killed.
>
>I'll tell you what else -- I never pursued the Laurel, either.  I was never
>an apprentice, though I was blessed with friends who were Laurels who were 
>willing
>to share their arts.  I do artwork because I am creative and I like it.  I 
>knew
>virtually from the time I first joined the SCA that I'd grow up one day to 
>be
>a Laurel, because I could no more quit doing art than I could quit 
>breathing.
>  I also like to compete in A&S events, because I do have a competitive 
>streak,
>and I occasionally still do so, especially as I'm still taking up new 
>artforms.
>
>
>I have a Thistle and an Iris and of course the Laurel -- because my friends
>in my local group, because the Laurels who saw my work, agreed that I 
>should
>have those awards.  It was neat getting them -- but only because I knew it 
>meant
>that people who I loved and admired believed that I should have them.  If I
>had none of those awards, or resigned them today, I'd still be doing the 
>same
>things I do now, with the same people I do now.
>
>And service -- let's not skimp the third leg of this tripod.  I never 
>worked
>for service awards, either.  I held offices in Bjornsborg and worked at 
>events
>for lots of years.  It wasn't until Ivar Runamagi happened to be perusing 
>the
>OP and noticed that I didn't have a Crane that I got my first real service 
>award,
>and that was at least two years after I'd been a made a Laurel, and more 
>than
>15 years since I started in the Society.  I never felt the lack -- like 
>most
>of the people I play with in the SCA, when something needs doing, you just 
>do
>it.  Half the time you can't even get your head up to see if someone's 
>noticing,
>because the creek's a-rising and stuff has to get done.
>
>I will confess that I probably got my AoA in part for my service as 
>chronicler
>-- though I took the job without any ulterior motive than knowing I could 
>do
>a better job than the previous chronicler or two had done.  And like many 
>other
>really young folks in the SCA, well before the point at which I got the AoA
>I thought I *should* get one, and I agonized over it.  Eventually I got 
>past
>being excited about it, metaphorically shrugged my shoulders and got on 
>with
>having fun.  And maybe a year after I quit listening for my name at every 
>court,
>I got that AoA.  Which went a long way towards helping me formulate my 
>views
>on awards and what one's attitude towards them should be.
>
>I've never said that awards don't matter -- there's nothing better than 
>being
>able to recommend a deserving person for an award, except perhaps seeing 
>the
>surprised look on their face when they get it.  It's pretty cool being 
>surprise
>dby an award as well. But I still say that you shouldn't worry about 
>getting
>awards -- worry instead about having fun.  Others will worry about what 
>awards
>*you* should have.  Why, there are even some of us who will make award 
>recommendations
>for people we dislike or even detest because we think that the person 
>should
>have them.
>
>Don't call me a hypocrite without knowing me better, Tadhgh.
>
>::GUNNORA::
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