A milestone

[frualeydis]

Today I made my first recommendation for an award in the SCA (principality level). It's probably something you people do all the time, but for me it signifies a greater involvement in SCA from my side. There are other ways my involvment is increasing: I've started posting on the forum and I plan to go to more events (but it is a bit difficult when your husband works every second weekend and you have a four-year-old and arthritis on top of that; I can't bring Maja along if I go by myself, it would be too taxing) and I even made a pair of hand sewn woollen stocking and fingerloop-braided garters for the princess of Nordmark, since it seemed like she needed period footwear (emoni made shoes for her).
But this feels bigger in a way, because I really am nobody in the SCA (I am a nobody, I just happen to know a lot of important people because I'm old enough and have sort of been around for 15 years) and making a recommendation sort of means that I think those who have the power would have any interest in my opinion.

I have been thinking about doing this for a while and a friend's post prompted me to do it; though the post didn't concern the same level it still reminded me that we have the obligation to help people's work become visible, since the coronets and crowns really can't see everything.

Comments

[mmy-me.livejournal.com]

You know, in that respect nobody is a nobody in the SCA. Having been on the other end of that equation, crowned heads really care about everybody's opinion when it comes to awards; it's wonderful to know when somebody walks through the doors to an event for the first time, who stood out to them. That's exactly the kind of information you need, in fact, for award granting. It's after all not about who is the most visible to the Crown, it's who is the most visible to the general population.

And then, as an aside, I don't think you could be a nobody if you tried. :-)

[pooklaroux.livejournal.com]

That's a great milestone! Recommending people for events is a real necessity. My husband has the problem of not being really visible at events. He has also has a job where he works many weekends, and can't do as many events as I do. He does research at home, and works on his kit and his armor. He also is very helpful to people, doing things behind the scenes. So I have been told that he seems not to be very "serious" about the Society because people don't "see" him, when in fact of the two of us, I would say that he is actually the more devoted, the more attached to historical authenticity, and the more willing and able to put in hard service. He has one award, I have five. That's not fair, and I would love for people to write him in for more awards. He is dxefinitely deserving.

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

The thing is that I know a lot of the old-timers in the SCA, and quite a few SCA-ites abroad and a lot of swedish serious re-enactors, but I don't really know people who joined the SCA after, say 1995, with a few exceptions. There is, as you probably know, also sometimes mutual resentment between people in the SCA and re-enactors, as well as some mutual resentment between the SCA and Nordirke, and since I can be pinned to both these groups I often feel that people who don't know me from old may have prejudices about me.

/Eva

[mmy-me.livejournal.com]

I know that there's *stuff*, but my usual strategy (and it's served me very well over the years) is to blithely ignore it. If you give people an opportunity to look past their prejudices they usually will. :-)

Oddly, here in Godzone, the relationship between the SCA/reenactor communities is almost reversed; people who are serious about historical authenticity almost invariably end up playing with the SCA. Sometimes while still maintaining a separate identity such as a household or here in our local group by having the living history group co-run events.

Mind you, the reenactor scene here is _very_ different to over there.

[tattycat.livejournal.com]

I think those in charge in the SCA have a responsibility and an obligation to listen to the opinions of their subjects, no matter the rank. Practically speaking, the Royalty (and order members, etc.) cannot be in all places at all times; it is our job, therefore, to tell them when we believe a person's work is deserving of recognition.

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

And we always have very nice and down-to-earth people on those posts over here, but it doesn't stop me from feeling like I'm presumptious when I contact them.
Yes, I'm silly.
Especially since I'm not that reluctant to talk to important scholars in my professional field.

/Eva

[tattycat.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way ;) Actually, I'm also terribly shy about contacting costumers on the web.

btw, I have been a bad LJ friend the last few months, and neglected to mention that I really, really love the pink gown in your icon. You look like a painting :)

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)

/Eva

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Yep, you fall into the international category; I think I know a lot more SCA-ites abroad than at home. Or at least just as many.

/Eva

[bracke.livejournal.com]

Well I always thought that the second silliest thing in the SCA organisation was the system of awards and the like! The silliest thing was the very rigid and cumbersome administration. (I know everything about that after spending years of trying to make even the simplest things getting approved for years and years!!!)

I always detested systems of giving people awards for things they do based on recommendations from others. This most often meaning that the poeple that get official appriciation either are the ones that SHOW off every thing they do to the RIGHT people or/and being buddies to the RIGHT people!

The worst thing for me was when attending an SCA event 2 OTHER people got awards for as they said at court "introducing knowledge of medieval horsemanship within Nordmark", by then I had already for like almost ten years been bringing my horses to events, letting people ride them for free, having lectures of horses duting medieval times etc etc.

Simple as that!

Those other people was the ones taking praise for what I already had done and worked for. Apparantly noone noticed all those hundreds hours of hard work I had done. I did not care for the titles and the scrolls they got, but it would have been nice to be mentioned!

Yup I'm bitter!!!

[bracke.livejournal.com]

AND I have nor being an SCA member since the splitup that created Nordrike. Not very active nowodays in Nordrike either. But STILL doing research over historical horses and their use.