A Review of 2020
As is the tradition of most humans, in January of 2020 I wrote out a list of goals for the year. I organized that list into four categories that were important to me at the time: personal, financial, health, and SCA. There was only one goal listed under the category of SCA: Take a break!
Pause for laughter.
Of course, I wrote that goal after the end of 2019 – the year in which I spent 75 of 365 days of the year either at an SCA event or travelling to/from an SCA event. Yes. Twenty percent of my year was spent outside of my home just attending SCA events… That’s not including the time spent at meetings and practices during the week. Or the time spent online during the day helping to coordinate a Royal Reign, or keep up with my duties as a Regional Officer, or organize my classes and volunteers as a member of Pennsic Staff. To call 2019 a busy year would be a bit of an understatement.
So yeah, I needed a break. And thanks to COVID-19, I certainly got one!
From the beginning of March through September of 2020, I didn’t do much. Events were cancelled and everyone in the SCA was struggling to adapt to a virtual environment. Fortunately, the Kingdom of Atlantia responded and evolved quickly. By the end of March, the Virtual Atlantia initiative had hit the ground running. Since then, there has been a plethora of online meetings, classes, events, and other gatherings available on a near daily basis.
Some members of the populace were able to jump into this new virtual SCA with both feet. Others needed a bit of time to adapt. I fell into the latter category since I was initially more preoccupied with a number of other changes that had taken place due to COVID. I transitioned to a full-time remote employee due to office closures and subsequently moved to a new area of Virginia (and a new local SCA group).
But by June I was getting back into the swing of SCA things, hosting a Regional Chatelains’ meeting for my local officers and attending the Summer session of the University of Atlantia. I was also getting ready to submit my letter of intent to serve as Kingdom Chatelain – a goal that I had been working toward for three years.
Happily, my letter of intent was accepted and I stepped up as a Kingdom Officer on September 19th. My break was over!
Since September I’ve been finding my footing as a Great Officer of State (GOofS as they are called in the Atlantia) and as the Kingdom Chatelain. I meet with the other GOofS every two weeks, with my local Chatelains and Deputies once a month, and submit reports on a quarterly basis – all virtually, of course. I am fortunate to be able to work with an outstanding group of people who are all committed to keeping the populace engaged during this time when events cannot take place.
Goals for 2021
Now that I’m in my fourth month as Kingdom Chatelain and feeling more comfortable in this role, I’ve taken some time to write down my goals for the year of 2021.
I’ve decided to organize my goals in a similar way to how I organized my goals for 2019. Those goals were organized into three categories: For Myself, For Others, and New to Me. My goals for 2021 will be organized into three categories as well: For Me, For Others, and For Fun.
For Me
- Update blog with posts about projects and events from 2019-2021
- Commission scrolls for the three awards for which I did not receive scrolls
- Complete five UFOs (unfinished objects)
For Others
- Finish and gift Master Grimm’s Pelican cloak (write corresponding blog post)
- Organize and support Pennsic Newcomer Activities as applicable (TBD due to COVID)
- Continue with efforts as Kingdom Chatelain
For Fun
- Attempt brewing again
- Practice calligraphy – maybe even make a scroll!
- Attempt silk banner painting again
When I organized my goals similarly in 2019, I was successful in completing everything in the category For Others. I was not so successful in the other categories. However, I think that due to the current hold on events through (at least) May 31, 2021, I will have more time to achieve the balance I am seeking.
Baroness Margaret Lad 