Pel survey for TI
I was recently invited to participate in a survey for an upcoming edition of "Tournaments Illuminated" that will focus on the Order of the Pelican. These were my responses.
When and in what kingdom were you elevated?
September 2014, Kingdom of the Middle
Had you been a protégé? If so, whose?
Yes, jointly to Mistress Maggie of Cnoc Cait and Master Alexander de Seton, both of the MidRealm
What did it mean to join the Order?
I haven’t changed. There’s no reason to stop doing or change what I’ve been doing all along. What has changed is the access to resources that I now have. My sandbox has gotten much bigger - my field of play is larger, my potential effect is larger. And since the Peerages are brother and sister to each other, my circle of potential allies/advisers has grown, not just by the addition of the members of my Order, but also those of the other Orders as well.
Along with that comes a greater duty. Not just that I am more visible now: a word from a Peer is taken more seriously than the same word from a non-Peer, especially by those who have less time and experience in the Society. So I need to be more aware of what I say and how I say it. It’s teaching me to be a bit more introspective, to examine my thoughts and actions in more detail for their effect upon others.
But also - and this didn’t sink in for me until the debate surrounding the Rapier Peerage - I’ve always had the privilege of giving my opinion and counsel to the Crown. But now, I have the duty to do so. It’s more of a change in perspective than I had realized.
What was the highlight of your elevation ceremony? Was it unusual in any way?
There were so many special moments!
I wanted to incorporate elements from other elevations I’d seen, that had really spoken to me. I asked my Pelicans to formally release me from my pledge to them, and I returned the protégé’s cap (a cap of maintenance without the ermine) they had given me. The cap of maintenance with which I was invested had been my late husband’s protégé’s cap, now with the ermine added to the band; and should another from our house be elevated, my former cap will become theirs.
Viscount Galen of Bristol (KSCA) spoke for me as a Royal Peer; he went to the exceptional effort of recruiting a herald to read his letter in his absence, and sent a tabard so that the herald would speak “as his voice.” That was a lovely, unexpected bit of authenticity.
There were so many amazing, kind, lovely messages from people who I hardly thought even knew me. So many gifts, of time and effort and words as well as things. I still tear up when I think of it. You never know how you've touched the world around you until such an occasion comes about.
If I had to single out one moment of the ceremony, though, that instantly comes to my mind, it was when I gave my oath. My hands on Oathbinder, the MidRealm Sword of State, for the first (and still only) time; HRM Cameron’s eyes locked with mine; it was a very intense and emotional moment.
Did you bring a tradition of service or volunteerism with you into the SCA, or did that develop after you joined?
I was raised as a child to not sit idly by when someone else was busy; so it has always just seemed natural to me to lend a hand when needed. It’s the right thing to do.
What motivates you to continue to devote time to Societal service or volunteer work (rather than, say, withdrawing entirely from the service aspect in order to devote all of your SCA time to other in-game pursuits, such as martial or artistic endeavours)?
I like to call it “enlightened self-interest.” Making the game fun for others - whether it’s cutting down on paperwork and wait times in line, or creating a more accessible and useful battlefield layout, or whatever - makes the game more fun for me. I want my friends to be in a good mood and able to come play with me too! So anything I can do to make others’ work lighter and easier actually benefits me as well.
What SCA service project or endeavour have you found most satisfying?
It’s really difficult to narrow it down, but if I have to choose a single thing, it was the two years I spent as Midlands Regional Seneschal. Every time I attended a Midlands (that’s the state of Illinois, plus a tiny bit of Iowa) event, I had “office hours” when anyone could come find me with questions, problems, or suggestions. By making the effort to try to visit every group in the region, I had the opportunity to get to know some marvelous people who I might not ever have met. I got to see how Kingdom policies affected local groups large and small, Baronies and Shires and Cantons. I got to fix things, sometimes, and recognize people for their gifts and abilities. And time and again I found myself overwhelmed by the open-handed generosity of the folk of the Society. I believe I left the region better off than when I started, and I know I am the better for the experience.
If you could go back in time and tell your unfledged self one thing, what would it be?
I don’t know. I can’t really think of anything that I would do differently. I’ve enjoyed pretty much every step of the way.
Do you find that your membership in the Order has a bearing on your modern life?
To a certain extent; or, rather, that my modern life and my SCA life cross-feed and cross-pollinate tremendously. The skills I use at my daily job are applicable to some of the projects I’ve taken on in the Society, while the skills I’ve learned - and the confidence that comes from teaching, heralding, and performing - in the Society are definitely a bonus in my modern life. (I can pretty effectively quiet a room and bring a meeting to order…) If anything is specific to having been raised to the Order, it’s that little extra bit of confidence that comes from affirmation - “yes, others believe you can do it.”