[MR] special versus medieval

[Garth G. Groff]

M'Lady Rebecca,

Not offense intended, and none taken, but I think we are at odds more 
over definitions. The SCA is in my view, by its very nature, an elitist 
fantasy. As long as it remains a fantasy, it is harmless. We are, after 
all, playing a game here. On the other hand, we as real people all have 
egos. It sort of goes with the territory of being a human. I do not 
advocate the SCA feeding anybody's ego as a matter of policy or purpose, 
but as in all organizations it is going to happen for some, and is going 
to not happen for others. What I hope is that nobody is going to feel 
hurt and leave by policies of the society or other actions of other 
members.

Kind regards,


Lord Mungo

On 5/20/2011 12:09 PM, Becky McEllistrem wrote:
> I believe that those with an elitist fantasy will never be satisfied by SCA or any other group and this is a psychological problem they need to work on and not something for us to encourage or try to feed.
>
> Rebecca
>
>
> --- On Fri, 5/20/11, Garth G. Groff<ggg9y at virginia.edu>  wrote:
>
>> From: Garth G. Groff<ggg9y at virginia.edu>
>> Subject: Re: [MR] special versus medieval
>> To: Atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
>> Date: Friday, May 20, 2011, 11:58 AM
>> M'Lady Rebecca,
>>
>> With all courtesy, I generally agree with your statements.
>> At the same time, whenever I run up against somebody in the
>> society who wants to make me feel small so they can feel
>> important, somebody who takes on an office and then is too
>> busy to do their job when I ask for their help (my biggest
>> beef), or some arbitrary rule which feels like a snub, then
>> I wonder why I'm here. Fortunately, there are usually more
>> satisfactions than slights, though lately the
>> dissatisfactions seem to be growing. O.K., so if as you say,
>> the SCA isn't supposed to be about making people feel
>> special, it still often is (think awards, honors, titles,
>> and yes, coronets!). If our organization makes some people
>> feel less than special, then they won't continue to play for
>> very long. Just ask some folks who are no longer here why
>> they left. I contend it is essential for the SCA to balance
>> our elitist fantasies with the hard reality of real-life
>> egos.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>>
>> Lord Mungo Napier, Archer of Mallard Lodge
>>
>>
>> On 5/20/2011 11:00 AM, Becky McEllistrem wrote:
>>> This is a general comment for all so I post it here.
>>>
>>> The SCA is an organization which strives to be
>> medieval.  It was never intended to be an organization
>> which strives to make the individual feel special.
>>> There are special things that happen in SCA like
>> meeting some of the best friends I've ever had and
>> incredibly gorgeous works of art along with events that draw
>> by the thousands.
>>> But there are also special things that happen in real
>> life - a birth, a marriage, winning competitions, the growth
>> of a business and lots of other kinds of events that draw
>> the thousands.
>>> The scope of the SCA was always to be a society of
>> courtesy that studied the middle ages.  It was never to
>> make any one person or group of people to feel more special
>> than the rest.
>>> Thus if you focus serious importance on your need to
>> be special and expect SCA to solve this need for you then
>> you're playing for all the wrong reasons and will always be
>> disappointed.
>>> You will always be disappointed because what one Crown
>> can change a future Crown can change back.
>>> You can spend hours and hours and hundreds of dollars
>> trying to control the future but what you find out in the
>> long run is that controlling the future is just not
>> possible.
>>> If you want SCA to fulfill your need to be special I
>> recommend a serious look at yourself and your focus. 
>> Any changes made will never be enough for long enough.
>>>
>>>
>>> Rebecca the Contrary
>>> whose friends always made her feel
>> special!<grin>