[Ravensfort] Thoughts on the future...

[aodhfionn at unforgettable.com]

On Thu, 12 Jul 2001 12:01:13 -0500, I read the following on a monolith signed by
Kief av Kiersted:

>.Families have problems...the larger
>they are the more problems that crop up... Yet, the *best* way for those
>problems to remain a *minor* concern is to air them publicly...... Not
>hidden away in someones back room...or deep in their heart......

I tried.  It does no good to air problems publicly if they and the person airing
them are dismissed as insignificant and unimportant.  My first attempts were
very civil, but they were misunderstand.  My later attempts were also made in
the spirit of trying to 'play nice'.  The responses were less than supportive.

I finally blew it and got a nice response.  Finally, it was made clear that if
this problem were ever going to be looked at seriously, someone not in the
leadership would have to do half the work.  I found this difficult because I do
not, nor do most in Raven's Fort I believe, know the _reasons_ for things being
done as they are now.  However, I rose to the challenge as best I felt able.

This was met with the same essential response I was met with before:  my desire
to see a change was combined with Ragan's.  I can only see this as an attempt to
undermine my considered pleas by combining them with those of someone more rash.

In the course of all of this, I also tried different methods of bringing about
change.  These were not given appropriate consideration by the leadership, and I
do not live by the philosophy that it is easier to get forgiveness than
permission.

For those who have said that I do not try hard enough to find out what is going
on, I give you this.  There is another group in this kingdom full of people that
I rarely see, yet I know considerably more about their activities in a timely
manner than I do about the activities of a group I call home and family.

Will I keep trying at this point?  No.  I've suffered enough abuse over this.
I've tried different methods of making my point, and only come to realize that
it is not my methods but my message that is undesired.  Until there are new
people to hear the message, I am sick of repeating it.

So, since I am as human as the rest of you and lack the life experience to give
me the resolve to truly keep quiet on this issue, I will discuss this with the
others I know to be of like mind, and I will keep my dissatisfaction deep in my
heart.

The damage from those issues I have expressed concern over has, as I feared,
been done.  Not because of _who_ was selected as our incoming Baron and
Baroness, but because of _how_ they were selected.  Because of the lack of
information, refusal to share information, and deliberate efforts to hide
information, there are now those that will not be swayed by any number of
impassioned speeches to pull together as a cohesive group and a caring family.

Some--so I have heard through the only fully-used information source in our
Barony, the rumor mill--have already decided to leave altogether.

>To that end...I hereby call
>on every person in this Barony to support the Barony of Raven's Fort and to
>not stir up trouble, nor muddy the water, nor create distrust nor foster
>hate nor begin any process that will bring shame on yourself, our Barony,
>our Kingdom, our Baron and Baroness, or our Crown.

I have already made my decisions in this respect.  Contrary to what I have been
accused of in the past, I have never had a true desire to stir up trouble, muddy
the water, create distrust, or foster hate.  Some of my activities, I feel, have
brought shame on myself, our Barony, our Kingdom, our Baron and Baroness, and
our Crown.  Not because of what I did, but because of how I was reacted to.

Well, I've had enough of that.  I will support my Barony.  I will support those
who have treated me well.  I will work as best I can with those that I have the
ability to work with.  I will no longer try for change here, and I am not
leaving.  The SCA is a very important part of my life and Raven's Fort was where
I "grew up" in the SCA.  So, for the sake of my needs and my memory, I'll still
be around.  If there are those who have been waiting for me to go away, or drop
out of the spotlight, so that my concerns could be given serious consideration
and the credit could go to them, then by all means, wait a few months for people
to forget my letters and sally forth.  I won't steal your glory.  Although I
have found some of that sort of thing humorously irritating in the past, I've
always been relived when small advances were made.  I've never cared who took
care of the problems as long as they were taken care of.

Finn