Following Jason's example, I believe I'll engage in some thread necromancy of my own.
In Plato's The Republic, Plato, through a proxy form of his master Socrates, describes an ideology for discerning the nature of people through ascribing metallic qualities to their souls, gold, silver, iron, slag, you get the idea. While Plato didn't mean this analogy as a literal description of human nature (in fact, he was downright cynical in its deployment) the general imagery, with a little tweaking, can still be useful in terms of contemplating self-improvement.
The path of chivalry is not an easy one. It brings us face-to-face with our own flaws, and demands of us that we beat the slag out of our characters to the best of our ability. It's the process of becoming, dare I say, "refined." That's the work of the Code, the process of internal character development that translates into external action.
The work of the kit, I believe, is to express the results of that internal process. The character refinement of vigorously adhering to the Knight's Code is inalienable from the person undergoing that process; a knight is a knight, even in the nude. My mother's people developed tattooing as a way to bring one's internal self to the fore, as a way of demonstrating one's personality to the community for all to see; I see the development of a knightly kit as a similar (though slightly less permanent) process.
So, to sum up this slightly lengthy, rambling post, I wish to pursue Knighthood (a) as a way to improve my character, and (b) to express myself.
