[Artemisia] In Praise of Play

[LadyPDC at aol.com]

While I do mostly agree with  Niccolo, I have to also agree with those who 
point out that they get their  enjoyment out of the work end.  I happen to know 
of one lady who loves to  put on feasts (and does a fantastic job at it too).  
She considers that to  be "play" because she has fun doing it.  I have done 
two feasts and that  was enough for me.  While I love to cook and bake, I don't 
come to the SCA  to manage people, I do that mundanely.  And that is what 
putting on a feast  involves.  So to me it would not be fun.  I know another 
gentle who  loves working in garb.  She could spend every hour of the day 
researching,  designing and creating better and better garb and never get tired of it. 
  Now I do love to sew, but arthritis has made that a painful thing for me to 
do,  so it would not be fun for me.  On the other hand, I love to research 
and  create documentation.  I love to delve into a subject and discover an  
entire afternoon has passed while I tracked down an elusive new bit of  
information.  So to me research and documentation is fun while many would  see that as 
nothing but work.
 
I think that the main thing we  need to remember is the phrase stitched in 
Latin on the back of the Arts &  Sciences Champion's cloak for Loch Salann.  It 
translates loosely to  "Remember, it should also be fun".  
 
No matter what you are doing,  ask yourself "am I having fun?"   If the 
answer is no, then why are  you paying for the privilege of suffering?  It's a 
hobby folks, find the  fun that attracted you here in the first place, or find the 
part that feels fun  for you now, but don't hang about paying for the right 
to be unhappy, that's  just silly.


Mistress Constance de la Rose, OL
Barony of Loch  Salann
Kingdom of  Artemisia




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