on passion

[ursule]

In a conversation about SCA recognition, ayeshadream wrote:

I had a deep discussion with a friend about this the other weekend who was visibly upset about how a competition turned out. I said so long as they do what they're passionate about then nothing else matters.

"Follow your passion" is fairly common advice in the SCA, in any small-liberal-artsy context

Comments

[ryunohi]

You guys are what's good about the SCA. I just managed to eat half a bag of pretzels without realizing it and feel nostalgic about not SCA while I was reading all of this.

[ursule]

Awwww.

You should come to an event with us sometime ;)

[inseriatim]

This made me think about why I like to do the things I like to do! Thanks.

[gwacie]

Rather than "Follow your passion" I would say "Do it because you like doing it; not for any outside reason." and that is the only way to guaranty not to be disappointed. If you love the craft and do the craft for the love of it. Too many people look for external validation, which is never as lasting as internal.

That said, I love competitions and pitting myself against the criteria, bwahahaha!! And showing off, of course :)

[kthrockmorton]

Yes, this. Awards are nice, but in the end, if you play in a big kingdom, or spend a great deal of your time on pursuits that don't attract a great deal of attention (like heraldry), odds are that you aren't going to get the awards very fast. So doing it for the awards, in my observation, often results in nothing but frustration when you don't get the awards you "deserve".

[gwacie]

It's not just the awards, it's any external validation. A lot of people enter A&S Competitions just wanting to have someone tell them "Ooo Pretty! You're so good!" which the competition isn't designed to do; a display is a better place for that.

Not that I don't need external validation, everyone does to a certain extant, but you should have an internal validation for why you're doing it too.

Am I babbling?

Nice arms, btw :)

[kthrockmorton]

I agree that external validation is important. But the thing of it is, most people in the SCA get the kind of external validation that you are talking about from their friends, or from other SCAdians who share their interests, which seems to me to be a more appropriate place to get external validation, than awards.

I don't think that it is wrong to want to get awards, or to be a peer. *I* want to be a peer, because how else will I ever get to be called by a persona appropriate title ;). But I've also heard people say "If I don't get X in a year, I'm quitting", and then do it, or engage in really unethical behavior in order to get a desired award. I guess that what I'm trying to say is that when becoming a peer becomes the *primary* motivation for doing X, then angst and drama generally ensue.

Thanks for the compliment on the arms. I was just thinking that your's are remarkably attractive as well.