[Stargate] A while back ...

[Gerald Norris]

I asked a question on the Ansteorran bardic list.

So.  I'd like to ask a question to all on this list.  I am dumb enough to
not know whether Westgate has a mailing list as well; if they do, please
forward this to that list as well, with my thanks.

Do you like the SCA you play in today?

I'll answer that question, to give you an idea of what I'm looking for.  It
doesn't mean that I'll get it, but I'd like to have everyone think about it,
then answer.

History first:  I didn't join the SCA at first.  My wife joined, with a
family membership.  Her hope was that I'd find something in this group that
I might like enough to keep doing it with her, because once upon a time, she
found something that spoke to her, and gave her the desire to come back.
Remember that phrase.

I had previously had a small run-in with the SCA in Huntsville (I didn't
know it was Ravensfort), with a rapier group at Sam Houston.  I had not been
impressed.  The short story is that it left a bad taste in my mouth.  So
when Kati told me she had joined us up in the SCA with her bonus money,
while I questioned her use of her money, it was ... her money.

So we went to our first event.  It was battle of the pines, or some such,
and it was in a heavily forested area; seemed more like someone's backwoods
lot than a place for an event.  I didn't know anyone, and all I had that I
could do was noodle around on a bamboo flute that I had from TRF.  It was
hot, and with all the trees, there wasn't a breeze available.  We were new,
didn't know what to bring, and there wasn't a lot on the internet at the
time, about ANYTHING.  But the thing that stands out most in my mind of that
event was Teleri sold us some wood bowls, and some guy with a blue and white
shield invited my family to sit and eat stew with his family (thank you, Sir
William).  That's an impression we would all be good to emulate.

Amazingly enough, I did find something in the SCA that I liked doing, and in
finding it, I rediscovered a part of me that had been, if not missing, at
least put on the back-burner for several years.  I met a number of people
with the same values I have; that honor, honesty, and humility are not just
words that begin with an "h", that a mistakes often happen because we are
all human, and that community and cameraderie should be the norm, not the
exception.

The way I've played the game has changed over eleven years.  In that time I
have seen some of my friends achieve the rank of Crown of Ansteorra; others
achieve the rank of peer, or of Kingdom Bard.  I have heard the damning
praise of "Gerald started me doing this..." on more than one occasion.  I
smile, knowing that I was only a catalyst, not the starter.  I have gone
through periods of self-examination several times, for personal reasons as
well as within the society.  Often, it changes SOME of the way I work with
this hobby that encompasses so many areas of knowledge and skill-sets.  I
now have family members that I have no blood-relations to, and feed them oft
times as much as they feed me.  

I've rarely been disgruntled about the SCA; I have conflicts with other
people's methods, and we talk them out, and some times we come to consensus,
other times we agree to disagree.  I've been approached by those who are
focused on the authenticity of whatever, and while I think they have lost
sight of what the SCA as a whole is trying to do, I don't spend a whole lot
of time worrying about whether they'll ever accept me or not; I'm probably
not playing the same "game" that they are.

So.  Why do I ask the question?  So that maybe, with discussion, we can
discover not only what got each of us interested in the SCA, but perhaps to
learn what KEPT us here, or gave us that desire to come back.  I know for a
fact that being a newcomer to any group is intimidating, in and of itself.
I know that I stayed because I found a group of people who were willing to
let me explore, who welcomed me with open arms, and gave me and my family
the courage to grow and try new things.  Perhaps, rather than trying to come
up with something similar to a new ad campaign, we can follow Sir William's
example and give someone else a memory of being welcomed by strangers that
didn't have odd vacant smiles, only a warm meal and a sense of community.

In service to the dream with a song in my heart, I am,
HL Gerald of Leesville
A bard of Stargate