How do you stay motivated?
This is an excerpt from the June 2018 House Lionesse panel on women's fighting. The panelists showcase the many different motivations that can lead players to the same focus.
A little backstory for me. In 2009 I was in a car crash and I still have damage from that and other conditions that were resulting, so I have spinal surgery every six months. And I will need that for the rest of my life, so that's that's a really hard thing to deal with. I have those procedures so that I can play Amtgard, so that I can walk, and I can move, and I can be active in a manner that I that I would like to be. It's still painful but it's not something that will damage me, and it's something that I just cope with. So for me, motivation is finding normality, it's sort of a drive to be how I was before the crash, and finding purpose meaning and enjoyment in life so that's kind of what drives me to just keep going.
For me the motivation is fun. If I'm out there on the field and I'm not having fun, I'm not really inclined to keep doing the thing. There's no enjoyment there. So as long as I'm having fun, I find that spurs me on to keep doing it. And everything about fighting is fun, right? The drills are kind of boring, but the end result is fun. So I think as long as you're having fun and you keep finding the fun things in fighting, then I think you'll find that your motivation is also there.
I have always been a really competitive person, so I've always been in the game for the fighting aspect. I like to be really physically active and I like to improve myself. If it's something that I can pick up the skill with, and enjoy, and be competitive with it's kind of right up my alley. When I lose the motivation--because I'm really hard on myself with that competitiveness--it's always been my Park members, and especially (once I joined them) my company members in Tiger Clan, and Michael, my knight, trying to keep me going with with my motivation and encouraging me to to find the fun again and enjoy it. I always enjoy the competitiveness, but when you get in your own head it can ruin your motivation a little bit.
