I sat down today to do what I could to resurrect this blog, to go back to my list of events and projects and service and awards and begin to fill in the gaps, but in my present state, where I feel more calm and more accepting of imperfection and failure, where I have more ability to spend my energy on the things that truly bring me joy, I am choosing not to meticulously catalog the past two years of my SCA life, because it feels like a chore rather than a pleasant reminiscence. I will have a post soon with whatever details I feel are important to my own records and memory, and with some pictures of the things I've done that bring me joy, and what I'm planning to tackle next, but if there are any readers out there reading this, you can expect a different tone here going forward. I am rekindling my love of the SCA and I'm not going anywhere, but I've found a newer, truer way to follow my own pleasure and happiness, and I hope that makes this a more interesting place for folks to visit.
For a long time, as long as I've been in the SCA, I had committed to writing about every event I attended, every class I taught, every project I completed, and documenting my journey. But life has a way of evolving that we cannot predict or control. When I had my daughter both of us were very ill indeed. I was severely traumatized by the experience, and spent the next several years in a fog of work, childcare, and emotional numbness. My husband and I developed a lot of unhealthy patterns, and though I kept participating in the SCA it stopped being a pleasure and started feeling like a chore. My blog here stopped in mid 2019, when the chaos was beginning to become too much, and my last in person event was our local masked ball in January 2020. What followed was a flurry of online events as well as the collapse of my life. My husband was laid off, I was stuck working from home with a toddler, then 2.5 years old, trying to get by on one income in the throes of a global upheaval I never saw coming. By late summer of 2020, my marriage was on the point of collapse, and my husband and I made the decision to separate, but for all sorts of reasons, mostly financial, we continued living together. I started/re-started a relationship with a sweetheart from my college years that looks very different. It is a polyamorous relationship, long distance, both of us with kids and lives and lots to juggle. I started taking medication, started going to therapy, started taking new interest in my own happiness. In the past I've kept my mundane life away from this space, but I learned in 2020 that trying to appear perfect, trying to be in control, trying to hide all the shadows, is enough to eventually break everything.
I sat down today to do what I could to resurrect this blog, to go back to my list of events and projects and service and awards and begin to fill in the gaps, but in my present state, where I feel more calm and more accepting of imperfection and failure, where I have more ability to spend my energy on the things that truly bring me joy, I am choosing not to meticulously catalog the past two years of my SCA life, because it feels like a chore rather than a pleasant reminiscence. I will have a post soon with whatever details I feel are important to my own records and memory, and with some pictures of the things I've done that bring me joy, and what I'm planning to tackle next, but if there are any readers out there reading this, you can expect a different tone here going forward. I am rekindling my love of the SCA and I'm not going anywhere, but I've found a newer, truer way to follow my own pleasure and happiness, and I hope that makes this a more interesting place for folks to visit.
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As of today I am seventeen days from graduating with a Master's in Public Administration. While in some small corner of my brain I'm fantasizing about future degrees, like textile arts, art history, costuming, medieval history, etc. most of me is just daydreaming about having some spare time to devote to my projects, sadly neglected in piles and bags and boxes and corners in just about every room of my house. I thought it would be fun to tell you guys what I'm planning for next year. So, in no particular order, here's some of the things I plan to tackle.
Looking back, these items are kind of a nice continuation of the list I made in January for my hopes for this year's work. I got through a lot of it, and some I didn't but will try again soon. In the spirit of last year's list, I'm also going to add my hopeful list of events for the next year. January - Arn Hold Ball (local) February - Estrella War (Atenveldt) March - Coronation (Not sure, this is a maybe) April - Crown tournament (maybe) and Honor War (An Tir) May - Arn Hold Champions (local) and Celtic Revolt (An Tir) June - Uprising if it happens (Artemisia) July - Artemisia Twenty Year (Artemisia) and Raptor War (Artemisia) August - Coronation (maybe) and Baron's War (maybe) (both Artemisia) September - Harvest War (Artemisia) October - Crown Tourney (local, stewarding) That pretty much gets us through camping season, though there are many nice fall/winter events I haven't gotten to attend that we will probably try to do this coming year too, and I'd like to cram in some more dance workshops and stuff if I can manage it. As you can see, I'm planning on a year of fun after a very well-earned rest. :) How about you? What projects are you planning? What's on your event calendar for 2017? Well! It is a new year (It's still January so I can still say that), I'm working on becoming a new me (down two pounds so far) and improving my mundane life in lots of ways (mostly because I'm finishing grad school in December and will be the proud owner of a Master's in Public Policy and Administration), and with the masked ball stewarding behind me, I'm looking at how to organize my life and my art a little bit more.
I feel like it's time to up my SCA crafting game. I have been in the SCA for two and a half years, and I have enough basic garb to get me through even multi-day camping events (three bliauts, a Norse apron dress, an Italian renaissance dress, my Slavic dress, and a sideless surcote that really needs a kirtle to go with it), but what I feel my SCA life is missing is accessories. Because I race through much of my garb-making, I don't own a lot of pieces with embellishments, embroidery, hand-sewing, etc. I could also really use more purses, belts, fans, etc. The things that make you look like you live in your garb, rather than like someone putting on a costume. This year I want to work on really settling into my SCA life, and hone in on making lovely art. To that end, my goal is to complete at least one project per month, whether it's a work in progress (WIP) or something new. January's finished object (FO) is, of course, my Slavic dress and filet. Below is a wish list/to do list of what else I've got in the works that could potentially turn into monthly FOs.
I've also been looking at what events I'll be attending this year. Obviously work and school are my first priorities, but I'm tentatively planning on the following: Honor War in An Tir (March) Coronation in Barony of 1000 Eyes (March) Crown Tournament right here in Arn Hold (April) May event TBD in Arn Hold (May) Celtic Revolt in An Tir (May) Uprising War in Barony of 1000 Eyes (June) Raptor War in Arn Hold (July) Coronation TBD (August) That gets me through the camping season. There is also an event in Arn Hold every November, so we'll see about that. Anyway, I know this is sort of rambling and random (which will not surprise anyone who has met me), but it's good to get things written down so I stay accountable. |
UrsulaI like to: play with fleece, spin, knit, weave, sew, garden, cook, eat, bake bread, dance, read, sing, and learn new things. Archives
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