Unto the populace of the mighty Barony of Caerthe, including all of her various Cantons and Colleges does your Aspen Pursuivant bid warm greetings!
So You Got an Award, Now What?
Congratulations! You have obviously done something to better the Outlands, or perhaps you are playing on a more local level, and those efforts were noticed and recognized... Either way, you certainly deserve the honor, because you have done something of value to the Society as a whole!
But, one of the questions that never seems to get much thought is "Now what? Where do I go from here?"
There are several different things that you can do with that spiffy new title that the award you just received gives you, and I am hopefully going to plant a few ideas in your head.
First, consider recommending someone else who you feel is deserving of the award you just received. You now realize just how wonderful it feels to have your efforts recognized by your friends, so why not try to share that wonderful feeling with someone else who you believe to be equally deserving?
One of the things that helps the Crown (or Coronet) when considering the candidate recommended for an award is 'does the person writing this letter of recommendation have this particular honor?' The Crown probably gives far more consideration to your letter if they believe that you have proven that you know what it takes to earn that level of an award. If you already have it, you are probably more qualified to name others who may also deserve to be similarly recognized by the Crown.
There have been several different articles written on how to properly write an award recommendation, you can even do it online, but if you are unsure of yourself, ask around... You might even convince some of those with whom you speak to write additional award recommendations! And, if someone is doing such a great job, they deserve to be talked about!
Second, keep on doing whatever you are doing! A quarterback doesn't necessarily retire after winning his first Superbowl, so why should you stop playing at a certain level after getting your AoA, GoA, or Peerage? You have been recognized for doing a great job in whatever it is tat you enjoy doing. Even someone with their Peerage can still learn something more in their subject(s) of study.
If it was an award for service, continue with your great contributions of service. Continue to help others by always being there to assist when needed, or better yet, help organize other (perhaps newer) volunteers at events. A little bit of help and encouragement in this area goes a long, long way.
If your award is in the arts or sciences, then take your work to the next level. Try more complicated ideas or begin to specify and perfect a certain area (such as a time, place, or style) of the art or science that interests you.
If your award was given for your prowess on the field, then by all means continue honing your skills. Learn how to effectively wield additional weapons and make sure to enter tournaments and contests whenever possible. There is no better educator than more experience.
Always remember that no matter what you do, or how well you do it, there is still much to learn (and hopefully some people more than willing to teach you more, which brings us to our next subject.)
Teach! You obviously found *your* specialty interesting, so please share your wealth of knowledge. People always want to learn more, but it is often difficult to find someone else who is willing to teach. Our Kingdom has several events every year that are no doubt looking for teachers, and chances are their autocrats would love to hear from you! If you are not comfortable teaching in that formal an atmosphere, consider taking on a few smaller projects, like helping a new fighter to authorize, or offering to show someone how to sew garb....
Those of you who have just won an award for service may think that there is not really anything you can teach, but this is *definitely* not true.
Perhaps you are a great cook, an proven officer, or a successful autocrat... Write an article, teach a series of classes, or simply lead a discussion with people interested in someday running an event, or holding that particular office.
Holding a roundtable discussion is not difficult, it really just takes someone willing to organize, schedule, and run it. And usually, once the discussion gets rolling, it will pretty much run itself. You just need to redirect occasionally to make sure is doesn't stray too far off of your intended focus...
Fighters are not exempt from teaching either... What better way to show you appreciate your new award than by training others so you can beat them (perhaps literally, but I hope that is not your real motivation) and teach them to be better at the same time. Even our most skilled Dukes, Counts, and Knights will show up to a practice that promises to teach some new moves or techniques.
Now, be honest with yourself, are you proving *and reproving* that you were deserving of the awards you've received? If we all use the many varied talents that we possess, we will see that not only we, but all of those that we have helped, encouraged, or taught will get much more from the Dream!
Ich dien (I serve),
Conrad von Zollern,
Aspen Pursuivant