Serena’s Reflections Upon the Work of a Laurel. Chapter Three: Act Like a Peer

Serena’s Reflections Upon the Work of a Laurel

This series will focus on MY opinion of the job that you agree to take on when you accept the accolade of The Laurelate. Being a Laurel is not just an award, regalia, or a title which is bestowed upon you. It’s a job. A good candidate will already be doing the job before they are elevated. 

Disclaimer: I am not, in any way, pointing fingers and saying “You are a bad Laurel” to anyone. At some times, I feel like I am being a bad Laurel by not being able to fulfill my own expectations. That’s just life, and I’m okay with it. You should try and be, too. 

Chapter Three: Act Like a Peer

You may be fantastic at your art. You may be a scholar and share your information freely, and often. You may be a huge, active part of the A&S community and be well networked with many artisans. If you don’t act like a peer, however, you won’t be doing your job as a Laurel. 

Many people have written about being a Peer. It’s quite a complicated subject. Mistress Zsof talks about it here in her series. Mistress Gianetta posted her thoughts on the matter here. You should go read those essays, and any links within them about this subject. Everyone has their own opinion, and that’s ok. In fact, I think that’s good, because it means that there are different ways of describing the same topic. One person’s words may not have the same effect as another’s. Here are my words. 

Peers act like the adult in the room. They don’t just complain, they gently offer solutions when they see problems, and don’t get bent out of shape if their suggestions aren’t heeded. They help where they can but they don’t take on more than they can handle. If they find themselves in a situation where they are overwhelmed, they ask for help or try and delegate their responsibilities. They keep their cool under stressful situations, and help those who they see going through stressful things themselves. They do their best not to embarrass themselves or others. They don’t act like they are better than others, but try to lift up those that they see might be struggling. They don’t blow out another’s candle in order to try to make their flame brighter. They think before they speak. 

All that said, nobody is perfect. Even peers have their bad moments and slip up on these ideals. It’s not uncommon to have one Peer call out another Peer for acting “un-Peerlike”. We can all use a reality check from time to time, and we all make mistakes because we are human. However, those who find themselves consistently unable to uphold one or all of the statements listed above (and the many more Peer-like qualities that others have identified), then they aren’t acting like a Peer. They may be doing lots and lots of great things, making fantastic art, and being a diligent scholar. But if they don’t act like a Peer, then they are giving all the Peers of their order a bad name. They may be the person who makes someone else think “That Peer was a jerk! All <insert Peerage here> are jerks!” 

If you don’t want to act like a Peer, don’t expect to become one. Once you ARE a Peer, do your best to set a good example and act like the Peer that you now are. 

Even though there is much more to discuss on this topic, this concludes my series. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

Previous posts in this series:
Prelude: Find Your Art
Chapter One: Be a Scholar
Chapter Two: Be a Part of the A&S Community

:: Questions? Comments? Feel free to comment here, comment on the Facebook post (if you got here from Facebook), or email me at directly at serenasbugs@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!