For a lot of reasons, I don't enter A&S competitions. Understand: I helped write the criteria. And I Love being the Paula Abdul judge. . . or at least I try to avoid being Simon. People reasonably ask me about "Winning Renown" or "How do you know you're growing." TL/DR reason, "I've been at this for longer than you've been alive, k?" At the end of the day, I'll compete against you, sure, let's suit up and get inspected . . .
Nevertheless, there are moments when I feel I've "Won" at my art:
Mom asks me to make bread for dinner. She taught me, yet trusts me to get it right.
Dame <name> says, "I'm doing feast at <event> can you and Richard do a hundred of his Spelt loaves. Thanks."
"What's for dinner?" "Well we got <list of random stuff> here let's do it Chopped style."
I "pay" for supper with a story. After I'm done, they ask me, "Where are you camping? We have space..." Sadly I wasn't camping...
I get a message, "Hey, <event I've never heard of> in <place I've never been> is Saturday. Rehearsal is at 2 for the ball in the evening. Can you be there?"
"If you want to know about <thing> Tommaso is the guy who knows it."
"Oh Can you Please do <piece>? I LOVE that one."
The best Middle Eastern drummer I know says, "Tommaso, you take the next solo."
"You're the first person ever to do one of my pieces. Take this token . . ."
Her Majesty weeping as I wrap up a story.
"I need you to put together a showcase for our Baronial event."
"Hey can you do half an hour at Twelfth Night?"
"Well, the best storytellers I know are probably Brendan, Cariadoc, and Tommaso . . . " Cariadoc is a legend. Brendan is brilliant.
"Can you teach <class>? I loved it at RUM, and I think it would go well at <event>"
You spend an hour in a quiet corner of the event site, just working on learning the notes to a new piece. When you're done, someone says, "I just loved hearing someone play Period music. It adds so much to the atmosphere...."
They track you down in your camp, "Can you play tonight's ball? I'll help you finish setting up so you have time for a shower..."
Someone screen-caps your website, posting it without attribution as "Common knowledge in the SCA."
You convert one of your "Okay so..." essays into a performance. After the first performance, someone asks if I'd mind if they performed it .
The most talented person you know tells you, "You know you really inspire me . . . "
You enter a Baronial A&S competition and lose, but Their Excellencies invent a new Champion and make you the Premier.
You nervously approach someone you've long admired as a performer, "Would you like to do a set with me at this event?" and they respond, "You think I belong performing with you??" Um . . Yes? (they Definitely did...)
An SCA Rock Star comes up after your set and says, "Man I Love how you play guitar . . ."