Reflecting on 2020
To say that 2020 has been a hell of a year is an understatement. It started out full of promise and closes with me hoping I lived up to what I set out to do.
I'll start off with my resolutions from last year:
Volunteer for responsibility within the Barony. This technically started back in October 2019 with me volunteering as a deputy MOAS for Lady Ailleann. At the time, this didn't involve much. A little cookie tasting here, a little brainstorming there. Fairly lowkey. And then COVID became a reality. Ailleann had an attack of life. And all of a sudden, keeping the Barony's A&S running fell to me. I got sent to work from home indefinitely in March, so I had plenty of time essentially living on my couch to make that happen, thinking that I could keep it going for a couple of months. On the day I started writing this reflection (12/6), I've now been home for almost 280 days, and yesterday (12/5) the Board of Directors has suspended in-person activities until June 1, 2021. Ailleann also had to move, and I stepped up into her role as MOAS officially in June 2020. During my last resolutions, this wasn't what I had imagined but here we are. I've learned SO much about myself, the people of our barony, and the workings of A&S in the last few months. It's exhausting at times, but knowing that I was able to help keep my friends together during this has actually helped me keep my sanity throughout this.
Teach at University. Well, I did that. And then some. I DID teach my first ever University class, on monochrome embroidery from around the world. I did so two days after being in the hospital, on heavy antibiotics, highly nauseous, and slightly feverish. I don't remember most of the class and honestly wasn't sure I was going to make it through, but I did reasonably well and with many more students than I expected! I also did a lot of other teaching that I wasn't expecting. If my calendar is correct, I have taught in the ballpark of 12 classes and facilitated something around 15 more classes or other meetings. As of this writing, I've also submitted a class proposal for Winter University 2021. I'm not a phenomenal teacher, but I've been doing things that I'm comfortable with like basic garb projects and an awful lot of cooking. I did also enjoy our nalbinding series in March and April.
Start exploring an alternative persona. As I've said before in my posts, I have outgrown my interest in an English persona. I started with English, specifically Tudor, because that's what I was familiar with from renaissance faires. Faires are what helped get the SCA on my radar, so while I learned the ropes, I stuck to what I knew. Doing so was ok for a while, but the garb wasn't comfortable, and outside of blackwork, nothing about the area really got me excited. Getting to take classes about Spain, meeting people interested in medieval Spain, and playing with the garb, has given me SO much more joy than I expected. The blackwork opportunities, the cuisine, the ties to Judaism, and the fascinating cultural dynamics have all been incredibly exciting, and promise a lot more engagement than England did. While I'm still new at this, I'm learning so much and having such a good time doing so.
So all in all, I'd say my resolutions for 2020 were shockingly successful all things considered. On to 2021.
For the year 2021, I would like to do the following:
Earn my University of Atlantia Bachelor's Degree and Fellowship. This will require that I take four more hours worth of classes and teach 1 more class. This one's kind of a gimme, because I think I'll manage that by next University if I've done the math right. If I really push myself, I may even be able to get to Masters but that requires I attain both a Bachelor's and Fellowship and THEN take 10 more hours of classes and teach at two more University sessions. That can be a stretch goal.
Build up a network of teachers and contacts so I can better help our populace get the resources they need. This one's a bit more ambiguous but it's basically come to the point where I'm not sure how much longer I can go on with sticking to the things I know best. Ponte Alto needs more than someone who can sew and cook and talk about cows. I want to meet people, and be able to help my populace get the information they're excited about. Part of that is the Ponte Alto Artisans Roster that Lady Magdalena and I are working on, part of it is me, and putting myself out there to meet new people. I'm really not sure how this is going to work while we're virtual, but I'm going to try.
Flesh out an actual Spanish or Spanish-adjacent persona. I want to really get into this. Backstory, identity, garb, gear, the whole 9 yards. I haven't decided about sticking with my name or registering an alternate name yet. But I want to really explore persona development. This goal has a specific end product. By December 31, 2021, I want to have a page on this site fleshed out with the story of who my persona is and how she came to be that way.
As of December 14, 2020, I hit the rank of Archer, with an average Royal Round score of 33.0. For 2021, I'd like to hit Marksman, which means an average score of at least 40.
