2003-12-17 - 1:00 p.m.
Okay, somebody tell me why I should keep playing this game…
I joined the SCA in 1994. I knew what it was before that, but I never had the time or financial resources to devote to it. At that time, I was young, single, newly returned to St. Louis and looking for a social scene. The SCA provided that in spades. I jumped in with both feet. I learned how to sew so I could have some decent garb. I learned some basic armoring techniques so I wouldn't have to pay out the wazoo for good armor. I traveled to events and wars, sang songs, performed in plays, got to know some wonderful people. I marched in the Calon Army, carried a scutum, sang Song of the Shield Wall and recited Drix's Latin lessons (Sumus grex agni…agni dentati). I flirted with pretty ladies, learned the difference between stout and porter, and how to feed 200 people from a dusty old manuscript.
In short, the SCA was perfect for a single guy who enjoyed fighting, making cool stuff, cooking, drinking a lot, and chasing women. I stayed out of politics unless absolutely necessary, I hung out with SCA folk almost exclusively, and used my connections in the SCA as a whole to write and self-publish a book.
As I've gotten older, the SCA is holding less and less appeal. As I got more and more involved in kung fu, I started fighting less and less. When presented with a choice between car repairs and a pavilion, the car repairs win. The effort required to research, organize and prepare a banquet for an event pales in significance to the effort required to feed, clothe, and educate my daughter. Do I bust my butt and my wallet to make new clothes for Winter Court, or make warm nightgowns for the kids next door?
Something to think about.
I've heard the SCA described as a haven from the modern world. It is that. It's a great distraction. It provides recognition for talents and efforts not ordinarily recognized by the wider world. But more and more I find that the modern world is too easily ignored, and that there is too much going on that merits my attention. Not just the international politics or the 2004 Presidential race; there's local politics that demand attention. The city school district stuff that's going on right now is very concerning, especially since the Professor may just end up in a city school. Folks in the SCA can't be bothered with that, though; it's much more important to worry about who said what to who in the Laurel meetings or on the St. Loony-Up-The-Cream-Bun mailing list. The kings and queens are no longer exalted figures, just ordinary folks who happened to get lucky. (They make out like bandits too, judging by some of the largesse I've seen handed over.) I won't talk about the warts and personality glitches I've seen in my time. Suffice it to say, the longer I spend in the SCA, the greater the cognitive dissonances become.
I'm not going to rant on and on about how the SCA is a bunch of self-absorbed geeks who don't contribute anything to society as a whole, because that's not accurate or fair. I'm just saying that I seem to be growing out and away from the game. I feel a need to be more active in the Church and in my local community. I may come back to it in the future, but for now I see no point in continuing.
