[...] we are appropriately modest about our lacemaking prowess. I can't say I have ever met anyone involved in lacemaking in America who believed that our lace activities
outstrip those of any other country or settlement [...]
No, no; as a *country* we do not do that, at least not about *lacemaking*. But, as individuals, we often tend to set ourselves standards which are lower than necessary and be content with less than utmost...
Because you'd been pitched into the PR role at the Convention, you missed most of the class with Loehr. And it was *very* "illuminating", beyond the snowflakes... Among other things, she said that, in the US, she is called a "slave driver", because she pushes for perfection, and we're not used to that; we're conditioned to think that being pleased with oneself is the most important thing, so "it'll *do*; it's good *enough*" is the reigning rule in our endavours (lace and non-lace). She showed us the "instructions" she handed out to her "regular" students who served as guinea pigs when she was first developing the class, and invited us to compare them with the ones *we* got. The mind boggles <g>
I had a similiar experience -- some years back -- with my own patterns. Anything I published in the IOLI Bulletin had to be explained/illustrated twice as comprehensively as the patterns I sent to the Lace (UK) or to La Encajera (Spain). Indeed, there had been a period when more complex patterns were "out of favour" with the Bulletin; *supposedly*, those would have been too "stretching" for many members who'd then not "feel good" about themselves. Thankfully, the policy (*if* it had *ever been* a policy; I heard it as a rumour <g>) has been reversed in the past 4-5 yrs; whether it's because we have reached a higher standard in general, or because the more advanced lacemakers were bored rigid with "frou-frou" patterns I do not know.
I'm not saying that's true about *all* US lacemakers; I've seen some lace made here that's up to and above any current "standard", in any country (and most of it is unpublicised, too <g>). But a lot of us -- myself included -- give up striving sooner than we have to -- *on a regular basis* -- and still manage to be happy with ourselves, thinking we do well (enough)...
I've seeen the same "trend" in amateur *music*... My son played oboe with the U chamber orchestra, all throughout highschool -- cat's meow, he was, as were all the other participants. Then the U got into an exchange program... Our musicians went to perform in Holland and Germany, theirs came here. They were *all amateurs*, but the standard those foreigners demanded of themselves and the standards our students did just didn't compare. We hosted some of them -- they practiced 3 times as much, even if it meant losing sleep of parties.
I wonder... Is it because we're very competitive, but never think to compete against *ourselves*?
Apologies for the -- mostly -- off-topic ramble ----- Tamara P Duvall Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/
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