Dangers of selection pressures (was Re: SC - Greetings!)

[Micaylah]

	We'd like to throw out another question loosely based on the "creations vs
creativity" debate.  We had a group of folks pushing this question around
the other night in regards to cooking and winemaking, though it could apply
to just about any aspect of "creation" in the Society. Please note that all
of us have been in for a number of years.  The question goes (kind of) like
this:

	When we started in the Society (give or take 10 years ago) it was simply
the "act" of doing a craft that was not normally done in the mundane world
that was encouraged.  For a person to make their own bread, cheese, wine,
cordials, (garb, armor, jewelry, etc., etc.) was the draw, was the goal.
(We were trying to find things with that "medieval" feel). If you wanted
something, you learned how to do it or you bartered for it.

	Now things have changed; merchants have items available for purchase which
has the wonderful effect of helping people achieve the "look" of the
Society.  More and more we look for the crafts/creations to be exact
reproductions of period pieces rather than the craft done in a period style
for the sake of learning something new (with that "medieval feel") and fun.
 Our questions centered around how we have gained and how we have lost
considering these factors.  By being able to purchase items, does that
decrease a person's motivation for doing? (either making or bartering).
Does the pursuit of exact reproductions drive people away from trying to
(cook a feast, make a project, make a wine, which is our personal love) due
to lack of time, resources, a fear of not meeting "the standards" or
perhaps just wanting to have fun doing something different?

	All debates of where the name of our Society came from and what is the
definition of the "Dream" put aside;  Are we moving from "re-creating the
Middle Ages as they might have been" (per the Known World Handbook pg. 1),
"striving to recapture the ambiance of the Middle Ages and Renaissance", to
... researching and reproducing the Middle Ages as they were?

	Have we moved from living the Dream to attending a graduate-level history
class?

Looking for other opinions...

Jon and Ania

(Getting into winemaking, garb, fun and our Laurels' hair since AS XXI.....)

Opera Est Honos.
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