So this idea has been percolating in my head for awhile now. Bail out if you are: A. pressed for time B. Prone to knee jerk internet posting C. Likely to find me, personally, irritating. I have been watching, and to lesser degree, participating in the ongoing question of admitting Rapier fighters to the Chivalric Peerage. And there has been a fair variety of intelligent discussion made on both points. (Spoiler: this is not a post about a Bardic Peerage.) People responded thoughtfully, creatively, hotly, or a combination of all of the above. History, honor, precedent, and logistics were all discussed. One thing that was rarely discussed was the VALUE such a change would bring to the Society of Creative Anachronism. Who was being served? Was this the best way to serve them? I have been directly involved in some of the earliest conversations about developing a device for the Antirian bards, both in person and online. Much like the above referenced conversations regarding peerage, passions and creativity on the subject of what symbol should represent our combined body abounded. In our case, eventually a system striving for fairness was hammered out in which a device could be ratified. And to my knowledge, at that point all conversation stopped. There are three entries that have gone through the submitting process. We arent discussing this as a group in any further meaningful, proactive way. Here is my point, for those that are still with me. Any discussion about what to name ourselves, what our badge should look like, how to govern ourselves, all of that is putting the cart before the horse. All of that is coming before, in this one Bards mind, a much more important, more essential, and more problematic series of questions. What is our current value to our Kingdom? Is it enough? What could our contribution be? Do we want it? Do we want to develop, as suggested by Master Ruadhan formal tools to aid one another and our successors? What do we want to do, as a collective, to ensure those Successors? Do we want to aggressively claim a place in the Courts of our An Tir? How are we to address the old grievances and perceptions of Bards as being stuffy, flaky, egotistical, elitest, isolationist, and not-fun sponsors of not-fun Bardics? Should we bother? If your answer is any version of, If it aint broke, it dont fix it, I urge you to reconsider. The bardic arts are seeing, mostly through the actions of a few, a wonderful renaissance in Royal patronage, membership, visibility, and variety and we have a window to be something more in all things Bardic than An Tir has ever seen previously. If we can get on the same page. If we can seize this opportunity. To that end, I want to offer a final suggestion. I am calling for a Bardic Moot/Symposium/Conclave/Muster/Round up to meet at The Kingdom Feast and Bardic event this November 6 - 8. Bring your dreams and your ideas. Bring your fears and your misgivings. Stack your nickels, make the trip. The event is in as inspiring a location as you could ask for. In the months to come we can develop questions and structure on how we would like that meeting to go. As an additional bonus, the meeting will be catered by the best foodies An Tir has to offer, so there will be plenty to nourish our bodies as we strive to better feed our souls. I am willing to organize this meeting, its development, and its execution if you will have me. But if not me, please Bards, I am begging you have some version of conversation that shows our depth of character and what can be done to shine our light more fully onto An Tir. Warm Hearth to you all, Felix Avor and Skamp Widegrin
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 04:26:15 +0000
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