A clarification regarding the title of this post before I get started… No, I haven’t received another Peerage. I just consider myself to be a “New Peer” still as it’s only been 11 months since I became a Member of the Order of the Pelican. Most especially since I’ve only been able to attend a few events due to the ongoing pandemic.
Also, I needed a catchy/rhyming title for this post, so here we are!
Last year the Board of Directors re-opened the SCA for events starting May 31st. The Kingdom of Atlantia held 16 in-person events between June and December of last year. Many other events were cancelled or moved online due to continued concerns surrounding Covid-19. Of the 16 in-person events that were held, I was only able to attend three. Now, 16 in-person events might seem like a fair number. But, for comparison, the Kingdom of Atlantia held 68 in-person events in 2019, before the pandemic began. I attended 24 events that year!
Of course, because the pandemic is ongoing, a lot of activities remain virtual. The monthly Chatelain meetings that I run as Kingdom Chatelain are all virtual. The bi-weekly Great Officers meetings that I attend are virtual. All of the classes that I take and teach through the University of Atlantia are virtual. In fact, we are still having virtual courts, as Kingdom 12th Night was recently cancelled due to the Omicron variant.
Virtual SCA is still very much a thing.
And it is likely to remain so, on and off, as new Covid variants rear their heads. While I will continue to participate in Virtual SCA as I have been these past (almost) two years now (!!), I am very much longing for the day when we can gather again at big events and enjoy each other’s company. I truly believe the SCA is an event based organization and we are all hurting a bit from the lack of in-person contact.
Now that 2022 is off to a start I’ve been giving some thoughts to my resolutions for the year. While I don’t usually do New Year’s Resolutions for myself, I do like to make SCA resolutions as it helps me with goal setting. However, one (of many) unfortunate side affect of the pandemic is that it makes planning very difficult – as events can be cancelled and/or rescheduled rather last minute. This, in turn, makes goal setting very difficult. Additionally, I’ve been experiencing a lot of pandemic fatigue – as have we all! – and I’m not very motivated to start or finish projects. With the above in mind, and being a big believer in not setting myself up for failure, I’ve opted not to set any new SCA resolutions or goals for this year. Rather, I’m going to list my ongoing “projects” for the year and focus on the progress of these.
But before I do that, here’s a recap of my goals from last year with commentary/completion notes:
For Me
- Update blog with posts about projects and events from 2019-2021
- wrote and published two new posts in 2021
- kept CV and events list updated
- Commission scrolls for the three awards for which I did not receive scrolls
- commission request sent
- Complete five UFOs (unfinished objects)
- completed one UFO – a sideless surcoat
For Others
- Finish and gift Master Grimm’s Pelican cloak (write corresponding blog post)
- progress on the cloak was made
- additional details are being added as Master Grimm was awarded his Laurel in October 2021
- Organize and support Pennsic Newcomer Activities as applicable (TBD due to COVID)
- Pennsic was cancelled again in 2021
- Continue with efforts as Kingdom Chatelain
- done!
For Fun
- Attempt brewing again
- nope
- Practice calligraphy – maybe even make a scroll!
- nope
- Attempt silk banner painting again
- nope
I clearly wasn’t interested in doing anything for fun in 2021 😅
Now for the projects that I have lined up for 2022 (with some carry-over from 2021):
- Finish and gift Master Grimm’s Pelican/Laurel cloak (write corresponding blog post)
- Organize and support Pennsic Newcomer Activities
- Continue with efforts as Kingdom Chatelain
- Fulfill my role as Head Chamberlain for the reign of Cuan IX/Adelhait III
While there isn’t much on this list that usually falls in to the categories “for me” or “for fun”, I’ve realized that with the ongoing pandemic I am stretched relatively thin. Completing or progressing on the projects that I already have in motion is much more manageable than attempting to take on anything new. It’s a rather sad admission, but I remain hopeful that I can find fun and creative outlets when I have more bandwidth in the future.
I’m also eager to get back to attending SCA events regularly as a Peer. In some ways, because of the pandemic, my Peerage still doesn’t feel real to me yet. Once things are more “normal” again, how will being a Peer change my SCA experiences? Will events feel different now? Will expectations or responsibilities be different? Will my interactions with other SCAdians be different? I know what other Peers may say. I also know that it’s not the same for everyone. I want to be able to discover the answers to these questions myself. I’m hoping this year I can do that.