Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is Saturday, a workday and the first day of the (weekend) bloghop known as the Ten Things of Thankful, which is hosted by Considerer and a bunch of interesting, insightful and intriguing blog writers.
As is the nature of bloghops, the Ten Things of Thankful (TToT) has rules. In keeping with the character of the founderess of the TToT, the rules are simple, direct and insidiously difficult (for some of us): in order to participate, one is ‘invited’ to write a list of ten things for which (one) is grateful.
As art, in general, and writing, specifically, often demonstrates, simple is not easy. Quite to the contrary, to ‘present’ simplicity requires a level of clarity (of mind and purpose) and directness (of emotion and intent).
Further adding to the challenge and paradoxically increasing the motivation to succeed, is the nature and tone of the community of the bloghop. All bloghops, if they are successful, attract participants who contribute to the blog on a weekly basis, the result is the creation of a community (of bloggers, of writers, of people, of men and women) with an investment in the continued development and growth of the bloghop. TTOT is no exception. The ‘regulars’ comprise a group that is everything a peer group should be, encouraging, nurturing, coercive, influentialistic, supportive, intimidating, exciting, controlling and enticing.
With the above in mind, and not the slightest delusion that I will put one past the group, I submit the following as my Ten Things of Thankful:
1) I am grateful for my health, as I experience the aggravation and annoyance of having an ‘end-of-Summer’ cold. Complete with the slight sore throat, which, as the day progresses, mutates into the low grade fever and the hyper-sensitive hair follicles and then a 4-day-night of half sleep and waking dreams…
2) when I wake from a night like that, I read about/remember times of very-illness and feel grateful for not being real sick, this time
3) as notice that I made the words ‘this time’ italicized, I am grateful for having read the early books of Carlos Castaneda… not for a total, encyclopedic understanding of life or reality, rather for the his deceptively elegant description of living in the here and now… Castaneda’s ‘character’ don Juan would say, “…you mustn’t live your life as if you were immortal…half-hearted, believing that there will be another chance to try again” (very paraphrased)
4) seeing that I am drifting back into my more ‘clarklike‘ style of addressing the topic of this blog, I am grateful that I have a number of co-hosts who are hoping I can stay on topic without getting too weird
5) I am grateful for the Wakefield Doctrine, with its insight into the nature of personal reality, as it allows me to continue writing this Post, semi-secure in the hope of finding new ways to express myself…
6) as I continue, I see that I am on Number Six and feel relief and a sense that I can, in fact, complete a simple, albeit rudimentary list of 10 things that I am grateful for this week… thank God for small favors
7) this one is easy, Una our dog… I am grateful for her and the fact that Phyllis and I have always had a dog. ( I used to say to people, ‘yes, we have an only dog’, which was meant to convey that we were a family of three. I have been out the traditional demographic of families a very long time… I am suspecting that the term ‘only child’ is not commonly used anymore. lol anyway that’s our family demographic: two humans and one canine. )
8) I’m grateful that I am really enjoying this foray into the…. the ‘less outré . I’ve had people say to me recently, “Why clark, I don’t understand how you can say you are introverted and shy and all the other characteristics of the ‘Outsider’ personality type! you are clearly out-going and confident there must be a loophole in that Doctrine thingie”
9) lol (a laugh of gratitude and relief that I am at the end of my list) damn! you people are more gifted than you realize (or maybe I’m just not listening when you tell me that…) but I will continue to practice the principles of the Wakefield Doctrine, as they are (one) path to developing parts of my personality that I have been unable to develop so far in life… and I don’t have forever
10) hey, thanks for the encouragtunity to try to expand my range of life today
About clarkscottroger
A great list to be thankful for, Clark!
Michelle
thank you, Michelle… each week the challenge is there!
If you ever stop being too weird I will stop reading your blog Mr. Man. Happy YayIDidn’tHaveToGetUpAt5:30AMday. :)
Tracy
alright!! here we are (it being 9:13 local time) the other side of the day! hope you had a good one…you need to join us on one of our Sunday Video Brunches…they fun!
Hope you are feeling better Clark and try to rest a bit this weekend if you can to rebound from the cold. Happy Saturday now!!
Janine
thank you, Janine… I totally agree, if rest is possible it’s the only way to beat back one of these semi-minor but still annoying colds! see you Sunday ‘on the circuit’
Work when you have a cold. Not fun in the slightest :( Hope it’s not too horrible.
And the reason we like/tolerate/encourage/keep/enjoy having you as part of this hop is because you pretty much always bring something new and fascinating, which expands OUR minds in turn. Even if we don’t quite see how at the time ;)
So thank you for your lists and your (seemingly) endless creativity with them.
(‘Only Child’ is still a thing.
Lizzi
(remind me to ask you if this got through… this apparently being your Twitter link and all!)… yeah I enjoy our little club…lol
It came through here – not anywhere else.
Lizzi
‘here’ at the twitter considerer? you own me a lesson in twitificationing!
Here at the Wakefield Doctrine Blog. No notification on Twitter.
WP allows me to log in and comment with my Twitter account, just as a way of linking social media (it also offers WP and FB accounts) and I prefer to link with Twitter these days, as it’s the only one which is active AND exclusively about Considerings.
Hope your summer cold leaves soon! Not a fun visitor! And sounds like your pup is a great reason to be thankful.
Kate
thank you… we have been totally blessed/fortunate with our dogs…each has been unique in personality and (each) has contributed something unique to our family
We used to be a two dog two parent home and more recently have lost one of each species …which I think makes me a single mom…hmmmmmmmm…. dunno …love that you’re thankful for your canine friend. Hope you are feeling better soon… I love your lists and if they weren’t what they are, I don’t know if I would look forward to them as I do…so thanks!
Life kind of caught up with me last week. Is the test still open?
zoe
totally! I will look forward to any feedback you care to give… early stages (of development) but very exciting…not only should it indicate your predominant worldview, but (with additional questions, I believe it will also point out one’s secondary aspect!)
link is here: grab your No.2 pencils!
See, you CAN be relatively normal!
I know exactly what you mean when you are sick and even your hair follicles hurt. Hope you shake it off soon!
Dyanne
there is a thing between clarks and scotts… a metaphorical smile and wink of acknowledgement (from one it is an appreciation of something being shared, from the other is the appreciation of sharing something) cool
Holy smoke! Am I falling behind…! Will be at a computer in a couple hours…Wakefield Doctrine Saturday Night first. Call us!!
Ugh! Summer colds are the worst. At least next week, when it’s gone, you can add “I no longer have a cold” to your list of ten! Hope you feel better soon. :)
Amy
hey Amy! lol damn! I did not think of that and totally need to remember that…what is it about you people* that makes it seems to natural and second nature to notice certain details and connect with the/an emotional facet?
members of the X-Chrome club, of course
*round of applause* You actually did a numbered list!! I knew you had it in you. (But, really, you don’t have to. We actually like your oddball thankful posts. (Oddball is used in the best, most loveable way possible.))
FYI: “only child” is still very commonly used. Mrs. Always Random is an “only child” of “only children”.
Christine
thank you… I know… I do too… I enjoy knowing that… lol
a part of what I do with the lists is, in Wakefield Doctrine terms, to explore my rogerian aspect (we have the potential of the ‘other two personality types’ within)… The Doctrine holds, in my opinion, incredible potential as a tool for self-development. But in order to develop this (tool) I need to practice it on a real person, so naturally I am using it on myself. Having said that, while I would be trying to do this (experiment) no matter what, you don’t know how much better it is to have an environment as supportive and positive as is the TToT bloghop. Thanks for being a part of this here bloghop here.
PS… more scenaria!!! I need more scenaria!!! lol
I love “encouragtunity”. It seems like half of my family’s vocabulary is made-up words (I’m assuming that “encouragtunity” fits that category), and I think we’ll need to adopt your contribution.
I also zeroed in on “encouragtunity.” I guess it means an opportunity to encourage? Neat word new word. I hope you get over your cold too. I keep feeling the tickle in my throat like i want to cough. Hate colds and stuff.
marykatbpcsc45
that what you get for leaving the theasaruseses out in the open for anyone to come and take words and smash them together! I don’t feel the cold until later and later in the day so I must be getting better!
Thank you for the Doctrine. It’s such a fun way to look at ourselves (and others?) in a different way. I hope you recover soon from your cold. We’re being sick, too, and the hubby can’t even swallow his pills because auf the contraption.
Have a great new week!
Stephanie
thank you for the contributions to it! it is a fun way to look at the world around us, and the way I look at it, any additional perspectives on people or situations or whatever, can’t be bad! On the Video Brunch today, Michelle and I were talking about how it can be fun to tell a person something about them that you shouldn’t be able to know! lol like we talked about rogers and towels and last week Lizzi and I were talking about how a roger and a clark would approach a kitchen to prepare a meal… great fun! But we do have a saying, ‘the Doctrine is for you, not them’ that’s just a way of saying, with the Doctrine we can learn a lot about ourselves and with that perspective we change things about ourselves… and with the Doctrine we can understand the other person better. when it comes to other people the first goal is to try and see the world as they are experiencing it. (note I did not say, ‘see the world as they see it’) because this Doctrine is concerned with how we relate ourselves to the world around us…the reality…not the common objects in the world.
you so need to join us on next Sundays Brunch! it will be fun.
Aha… a numbered list? Welcome back to the “norm” and enjoy it while it lasts, I’ve a feeling it will be a brief stay :-)
Sorry to hear you were sick, but by now I hope you are feeling a lot better.
Great list, but I am curious about the use of “only”… considering having had previous dogs or “children” would it be correct to use “only” in those instances? I could see it going either way as if the only surviving subject it’s technically true too, and it may be just personal preference?
I fear the people of #8 may not know you as well as they think they do? >.>
Also, I am curious… am I a sick perv if I happened to check out Stephanie’s profile pic at a closer look to see if there was sideboob action going on?* Perhaps Lizzi’s sideboob award has corrupted me… On topic, yet more serious, she is quite lovely**
I’m all about made up words. I used to get in “trouble” when in school for doing that. I’d like to think it was a clear sign of my incredible creativity skills…
*I have a feeling I already know the answer to this…
**Which sweet lady is being referenced can be determined individually to avoid any jealousy
Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of Ink