kareina

Also on March I was tempted to say to mushroom_maiden, whom I'd not yet met in person when we had this conversation, "Ok, I haven't actually replied to the other friend who gave me words yet, but I am curious to see what you will come up with for me. :-)
I should be able to make time for writing such posts in a week or three..."

It turns out that I was a touch optimistic, since it has been more like six months than three weeks, but so it goes sometimes...

1. SCA

The SCA has been a constant presence in my life for somewhere around 27 years now (I'm not positive precisely when during high school I found it, since I was at the same school for six years, and time spent at a single location tends to blend in my memory as all one time, which could explain why I like to move around every three years, give or take, so that I can better tell *when* a specific memory was). The SCA is an excuse for way too many hobbies, and has been the place I have met the vast majority of the people I care about (and since many of my Steller friends played Purwydd/SCA when we were there, I suppose that subset can count in the above "majority"). The organization, for me, isn't just a place to indulge my interest in history/archaeology, play dress up, make cool things, and hit my friends with sticks (or inspire others to do so), it is also the continuity that I bring with me as I move from one place to another. The SCA sub culture, while different in every branch of the Known World, is also similar enough everywhere that no matter where I go I have friends I've not met yet (and, often, some I have) waiting for me. Just this weekend I met a couple from Calonitr, who joined the SCA around the same time I did, and it was such a joy to enter their house and feel promptly at home and comfortable with them. We have ever so many shared experiences and interests, though this is the first time our list of Kingdoms in which we've lived have overlapped. Despite the scar tissue I'll always carry from the problems I had with some of the individuals in Tassie who very nearly made me leave the SCA, I think that the organization is, by and large, the best thing that ever happened to me. If not for my finding this strange group to take me in when I was forced to leave the warmth and comfort of the Steller nest, I don't think I'd be as happy, well adjusted, or as skilled in as many diverse things as I am now.

2. Love

One of the most important resources in the world, and one of the most delightful, for the more you give away, the more you have to give. There are ever so many people in this world for whom I feel love, at some level, and it brings me joy to have met each and every one of them. I may be enjoying being "single" at this time--for the first time in my life I'm not dependant upon anyone to help support me, and I'm enjoying making all of my decisions as to what to do/where to go, and when without having to coordinate with the needs/interests/desires of one of my partners, yet the love I still feel for everyone with whom I've ever been romantically involved still strengthens me and makes me a better person.

3. Stars

Are one of the things I miss living in Milan. The night sky here, on a cloudless night, might show the moon, and perhaps a particularly bright planet, but it is rare that I can distinguish more than a handful of stars. However, having grown up in Alaska, where stars are a seasonal phenomena, I don't mind it as much as I might have done if I'd always lived places where one could see stars-year round, and not only in the winter.

4. Open smiles

Bring much joy. Even reading those two words brought a smile to my face, and the mere act of smiling makes one feel happier. Like love, the more smiles you offer to others, the more you have to give, and the more that others will be inclined to offer them in return. Have you smiled today? Even during times of darkness and despair in our lives, there are usually little things worth smiling about, and I hope that one and all receive honest, open smiles today, and every day.

5. Dancing

Yes, please! I love to dance--active movement is fun, music is divine. The flowing patterns created by the movement of people across the dance floor, spinning, twirling, skirts extending out ever so far from one's body! And I'll get to dance with others again on Tuesday, when we start up the local SCA dance practice! I am so looking forward to this!

Way back in March some of my LJ friends were playing a game wherin people would be assigned five words which the giver associated with the receiver, and then the receiver was obliged to do a post explaining what those words meant to them. I commented then to vesta_aurelia that "Ok, I don't really have time for this, and if I'm being a dedicated student I won't do anything with the words straight away, but I enjoyed reading yours, so what the heck...". She gave me the following words, and the e-mail notification has been sitting in my LJ folder in-box for months, waiting for me to get back to it. I still don't have the time, but I feel more like cleaning out long-neglected correspondence than being a responsible post-doc at the moment, so here goes:

World The world is a wonderful place, and I think of it as home. Yes, all of it. While I've only lived in seven countries yet, I am still reasonably young, and there is every reason to believe that I'll have time to poke my nose into far more corners of it, yet.

Stone Is one of the most important things in the world--without the solid bits of earth, what would we stand upon? It is also beautiful, and records ever so many stories for those of us who care to read them. Every stone and rock consists of minerals, and every mineral has a temperature/pressure/range of compositions at which it will grow (and a much larger set of temperatures, pressures, and range of compositions of the host rock in which it won't grow). By studying the rocks we can work out the history of a rock--what were the conditions of its birth? In general, the prettiest stones are the ones which were born at high temperatures and pressures, and had a long gestation period before coming to the surface of the earth. Why? Because it takes time to grow a mineral, and the larger the crystals of any given mineral that are present, the more likely we are to see it as "pretty".

Partnership Partnerships are a very flexible thing--I truly believe that any combination of individuals can form a happy sucessful partnership. Some combinations take more work than others, but that is due to the individuals present, not the number and gender of said individuals. While partnerships can form for any number of reasons, sometimes to achieve a specific short term goal, sometimes for business, I think that the most joyous partnerships are those which grow out of love, and it saddens me whenever a group of people try to restrict such partnerships to only a certain number of individuals or to restrict the genders of the individuals. I believe that the world will be a happier place when more people truly understand that loving partnerships can form between groups and that such partnerships will enhance their communities, not detract from them.

Custom I am very fond of custom-made things. Why go to the store to purchase oneself a random object that is mass-produced and doesn't quite fit, when one can make (or cause to be made) a similar object which has been customized to precisely suit the needs/tastes of the individual? Though, I acknowledge, it is sometimes faster/cheaper to obtain the mass produced item and then modify it to suit.

Balance Balance is one of the things I enjoy playing with in my daily yoga practice. It brings me great joy to be able to stand upon my head, or hold myself in crow pose (hands on floor, knees on the back of the upperarms, feet and body in the air, all supported on just the hands), or many of the standing balance poses. I have also enjoyed playing a bit with partner balances, where one stands at unlikely angles upon another, and hope to one day find someone who wishes to play those games with me again.

And bonus definitions:

Custom The customs of a people dictate acceptable behaviour, and include rituals for certain activities. In many ways I very much enjoy these--the ritual built into an SCA court ceremony is much fun, and many of the SCA customs we've developed over the years (which are harder to change than Law) are good things. However, customs can also cause major problems in this world, such as places where the customs are too restrictive and try to force people into patterns to which they cannot adapt.

Balance The balance between the many different interests a person has in this world can be difficult to achieve. We are responsible for tasks related to our jobs (when we have them), related to maintaining our health and fitness, related to our emotional stability, and related to caring for such of our friends/family/partners as we've taken under our wings. Yet, there are only 24 hours in any given day, and sleep (a big component of health!) tends to demand a big chunk of those. Those of us who choose to undertake a major project in our lives (like a PhD) often choose to set aside one or more of the other aspects while completing the project. When this happens, it can be difficult to revert to a more balanced lifestyle afterwards. I am currently struggling with re-finding the optimum balance. Between my recent travels and the time spent moving into my new place, my "uni work" catagory of how I'm spending my time is considerably lower than it should be, and yet I'm tempted to keep picking up more and more things that I haven't done in ages, while I was finishing up my PhD thesis. There is an optimal balance of all of the things I wish and need to accomplish, and I hope that I find it again, soon.