Month: July 2014 | the Wakefield Doctrine

Thursday’s Guest Post Thursday Guest Post Writer the Wakefield Doctrine ‘…you should have heard just what I’ve seen’

July 31, 2014 By clarkscottroger

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

Today, on TGPT’s Guest Post, we are privileged to have Cyndi Calhoun in the role of Guest Post Writer-clark. We met Cyndi back, in October (the 19th) 2012… her very first comment:

I just read the whole blurb you have on clarks. OMG…I MUST have knowledge. I went back to school, have the equivalent of three bachelor’s degrees and half of a master’s degree – but then I decided it wasn’t worth it. I’d really rather learn everything else on my own time and not be put into a damned box. So…let’s see…so far TODAY, I’ve learned some new blogging tricks, some HTML code, some photography tricks, and I took a short nap after daydreaming about the summertime and how it’s so much warmer…and I’m ALWAYS thinking…I can’t turn my brain off. It’s constant…and yes, the world is hostile. I struggled with teaching. Oh, I could put on the “extroverted, happy face” but it’s hard going out into the big bad world. At least working at home is much more stress free. Part of being a writer is dealing with criticism and I have yet to figure out how to handle it with more grace, but eh…it doesn’t happen that often, so I’ll deal. :) I think clarks also like finding out about themselves…I am fascinated.

I’ve included Cyndi’s entire first Comment, not only because it tells so much about why we’re glad she’s around, but to also provide a benchmark. (The problem with a lot of self-improvement/self-development is often how much the person has accomplished gets lost in the haze of the past). Our friend Cyndi is a remarkable example of self-developing oneself in a balanced and sustaining manner.

…plus she’s funny and kind, talented and strong on behalf of those who do not have someone to stand up for them ( yeah, children and other clarks). lol

…Cyndi?

**************************************

Being able to “center” and find mindfulness when you’re surrounded by chaos is a powerful exercise.

Mindfulness allows us to consciously slow life down and concentrate on one task while using all our senses. It has a calming effect.

Our world today is filled with noises, distractions, too-full to-do lists, and countless other activities that drain energy.

But, you can control your reaction to everything around you.

In fact, you can experience and use mindfulness to help stress and calm those jittery nerves.

A Geometric Puzzle

The other day, I was at my in-laws’ house.

It had been an incredibly busy week: work obligations, my mother-in-law went to the ER (she’s okay – she swallowed a fishbone that lodged in her esophagus, but then it dislodged without any extreme measures), and we had family visiting.

On Saturday morning, I was feeling a bit out of sorts as I continued my way into the weekend.

We also had another visitor, Hootie. He’s an Amazonian parrot. I once did an abstract painting of him – here!

An opportunity for Mindfulness.

I centered myself by taking a few deep breaths and clearing my mind. I already felt more calm.

Because I’d cleared my mind, I had no idea what I was going to create. I just let my senses and eyes take over.

I didn’t think.

First, I grabbed all the light green pieces. I have no idea why – they just felt “right” for whatever I was going to create.

The beginning of a moment of mindfulness.

I started piecing them together.

Add blue puzzle pieces

Then I added blue pieces. Again, this was without thought. I just concentrated on my breathing.

I had no idea what I was doing – I just “went with the flow.”

After adding the blue pieces, I somehow arranged an “X” pattern with a square block in the middle. I was pleasantly surprised I had the†exact†number of pieces I needed to make this happen.

Forming an “X” with the puzzle pieces.

I then found red and purple triangles to put together. I thought it looked need if all the little triangles faced in the same direction.

Red and purple triangles.

For these pieces, I decided to put them on the “legs” of the X – I just thought it looked visually pleasing. However, I kept in mind that I didn’t have a way this “had to be” – I was in the zone, having completely let go. Even Hootie, with his loud, “Hello! Hello! Want a cracker?” chatter wasn’t distracting me.

I continued to concentrate on my breathing, the colors, the triangles, the feel of the blocks, the “X” itself….

Next, I added orange and green triangle blocks. They ended up on the sides of the puzzle board.

Orange and green puzzle pieces with a bit of the last two colors, yellow and navy blue.

Last were yellow and navy blue pieces. They perfectly filled in the rest of the gaps in the puzzle board.

I put those in another direction to add contrast.

When I finished, only a short time later, I was so relaxed, I thought I could take a nap. In fact, I did – a two hour nap!

The completed puzzle.

Do you use mindfulness in your own life? In what ways do you slow down?

thank you

Cyndi

www. pictimitude.com

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: personality types, psychology of personality, self-improvement, the Wakefield Doctrine

‘re-Print Too-sday’ the Wakefield Doctrine (just giving everyone a day or so to mull over yesterday’s Post)

July 29, 2014 By clarkscottroger

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

So lets continue last week’s Too-sday motif, with this re-print (from one of the Pages) in this here blog here.

With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, we’ll borrow his
‘If you… then you might be a redneck’

If you immediately stop surfing the channels because you come upon a show that uses only black and white documentary photos and film…you might be a roger

If you love Christmas lawn decorations and cannot imagine having too many lights… you might be a scott

If you find a flier stuck under the windshield wiper of your car and you take the time to read it… you might be a clark.

When asked virtually any question, you preface answer with “that’s interesting because in the beginning…” you might be a clark.

Someone gets your name wrong and you answer to it without correcting them… you might be a clark.

As a child building model cars, you made sure that the leftover, extra parts were put back in the box along with the re-folded instructions for future safekeeping…you might be a roger.

You think that Slacker was the greatest movie made in the 90s...you might be a clark

You think that Borat was one of the funniest movies of 2006…you might be a scott

You think that the 107 episode, Directors cut, 15 DVD un-abashed edition of the compilation (with Writers notes (including what he had for breakfast) and voice-over reading of the credits by someone who knew someone who was a re-enactor who actually got hurt at an event) of all Ken Burns films, PBS episodes and commercials that last longer than most readings of the Iliad is the greatest film of all time…you might be a roger

If you have any inclination to wear hats for a fashion statement (and you are a guy) or a ‘fanny pack’, or, for that matter, any clothing designed specifically for riding a bicycle (branded or un-branded)…you might be a roger.

If you happen to be at a golf tournament and feel that it is expected of the members of the gallery to yell anything (including, but not limited to. “get in the hole!!”)…you might be a scott.

If you are contemplating a project of any sort; a new deck or a term paper, writing a resume or planting a garden:

you look forward to making the list of things you need to buy/gather/acquire first more than anything else…you might be a clark

you need to check at least 2 Seasons of your favorite ‘do it yourself’ that is what you want…you might be a roger

CONTEMPLATE? PLAN? I JUST FINISHED IT! FUCK YOU ITS DONE NO THIS IS FINE THE WAY IT IS… you might be a scott

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: personality types, predicting human behavior, psychology of personality, relationships, self-development, self-improvement, the Wakefield Doctrine

Summer School the Wakefield Doctrine (it doesn’t have to be unpleasant, but it does need to be surprising and fun, maybe disturbing, too)

July 28, 2014 By clarkscottroger

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

Seeing as, this Summer, we have not a few Readers who are quite conversant, (some even approaching fluent), in the Wakefield Doctrine, I thought I would try a series of posts that focused on real life situations.

New Readers? the Wakefield Doctrine is simply a perspective on life that offers (an) insight that is unique, useful and fun. The Wakefield Doctrine is not an ‘Answer’, rather it is a ‘what if’ question applied to …well, applied to everything! Learn to use this Wakefield Doctrine and you should never again hear yourself say, “My god! I don’t believe they just said that! I really thought I knew them better!” All that is required is a confident sense of curiosity and a healthy imagination. Everything else will follow, provided you are able to accept that:

there are three worldviews (personal realities) that everyone lives their lives in, regardless of age, gender, culture or patience

these three are: the world of the Outsider(clarks), the reality of the Predator(scotts) and the life of the Herd Member(rogers)

we are all born with the potential to live in one of these three, which we do by age 5 or so, however, we never lose the capacity to see the world as do ‘the other two’

through reading the Posts and the Pages (of this blog), you learn the characteristics associated with each of the three personality types sufficiently to recognize them in the people around you

by observing the behavior of the people in your life you will be able to infer how they, ‘relate themselves to the world around them’

that’s all you need to get started. (Tip: when trying to decide which of the three personality types a person is, immediately throw out the ‘yeah, no frickin way‘ worldview, that will leave you with only two to compare and contrast.) Read the Posts and, especially, the Comments, as these are from people like yourself who stumbled across this blog and didn’t have the good sense to keep moving on. (Encouragement: If you are still reading this, your chances of ‘getting’ the Wakefield Doctrine have risen from 0 to 47%. and…and! if you read three more Posts and come back here and still find the Doctrine intriguing, then we want to hear from you, so write us a Comment. Your initial impressions are important to us, they would be appreciated.)

Case Study #1

rogers.

(with) rogers, we can often see what, for the partial purpose of being confusing, is a certain… quality that we call their Expression.* (This) Expression is the objective edifice of a roger’s personality, it is their ‘purpose’ to/within the Herd. Often it manifests as (an) occupation or profession, (scientist, accountant, prosecuting attorney or judge). It can also be an avocation or hobby (i.e. cabinet making, stamp collecting, genealogy or ship-in-bottle builder). It, (this Expression), can even be something as fundamental as: keeping house, maintaining a family life or staying in touch with relatives (near or far). a roger, as a Rule (ha, ha), does not consciously set out to find and develop an Expression. (This is not to say that there is not a predisposition to a certain type of activity that becomes their Expression, it’s just that they are not thinking, “Now… what do I want for my Expression”). Having said that, there are certain values, qualities, characteristics necessary in this Expression. For example, a roger’s Expression must be perceived both as a value to others (in the Herd) and a manifestation of the virtue of disciplined effort (on the part of an individual). One way of confirming (a roger’s) Expression is the ‘everyone knows’ test. ‘Walter is such a talented woodworker, everyone knows how good he is’ or ‘Martha is so focused on family, anyone who meets her senses that right away’

In Case Study#1 we have a roger with an Expression of musical talent, technical musical skills, music. This means, very simply, that had you the capability of visiting this roger at any time throughout his life, you would have seen a guitar somewhere in the scene. The circumstances (and the guitar) might be different at various times, but it would always be there.
I need to introduce another concept at this point: context.
‘Context’ is (a) reason, (it is) the need, the opportunity that roger would have in his life, (at any given point in time), to manifest his Expression. This/these contexts might consist of being a member of a band, or having a recital as part of a class in a community college, it might simply be helping a friend, (filling in for an absent musician). The key to these contexts is that there is a need, for roger to play. And, this need, is from those around him, not simply a subjective demand to play, (which, in turn, is a different aspect of the Expression) . ( If you are now thinking, ‘ …you’re talking about the Herd, right? the people around him who are identified as Herd Members?’ very astute! good!)

…what happens when there cease to be contexts?

(to be cont’d)

(hey, I wrote most of the above yesterday. When I got up this morning, I thought… ‘jeeze! clark you better spice that Post up! ever body be snoozing by paragraph 2!! ‘cept for zoe and that’s only cause she a professional…. any good teacher or presenter…. or speaker-in-front-of-more-than-one-person-er knows that!!

so here are three jokes, please insert them in the place of your choice in today’s post

Julius Caesar walks into a bar. “I’ll have a martinus,” he says. The Bartender gives him a puzzled look and asks, “Don’t you mean a ‘martini’?” ” Look,” Caesar retorts, “If I wanted a double, I’d have asked for it!”
So Jesus walks into a bar and says, “I’ll just have a glass of water.”
A blonde(clark), a brunette(roger) and a redhead(scott) were stuck on an island for many, many years until one day they found a magic lamp.
They rubbed it hard and out popped a genie. He said that he could only give three wishes so since there were three girls, each would get one wish. The redheaded scottian female went first. “I hate it here. It is too hot and boring. I want to go home!” “Okay,” replied the genie. And off she went. Then the brunette rogerian woman went. “I miss my family, my friends and relatives. I want to go home, too!!”And off she went.The blonde clark started crying and said, “I wish my friends were back here!”

* to be confused with a ‘rogerian expression’, which is a form of rhetorical aggressiveness (usually spoken, but possible as the written word) that is characteristic of this worldview.

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: psychology of personality, relationships, self-improvement, the Wakefield Doctrine

TToT the Wakefield Doctrine (“Doctrine…the Wakefield Doctrine”)

July 26, 2014 By clarkscottroger

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

1) the lead picture: gift envelope from my friend zoe… (as a rule, I have never been a fan of receiving mail, seeing how up until the last year, all I got was/were bills). But here I am, getting envelopes from foreign countries and, even Massachusetts!

2) …contained in the (above) envelope was a gift (also from zoe, which should be no surprise, as she was the one who sent the envelope) a card holder… as in business card. very cool

3) I am grateful for whatever it is that gets me to jump up and include a piece of my ‘real life’ in a blog Post. Let me re-phrase that: I am grateful for the friends I have here in the ‘sphere, because I am, apparently, quite comfortable including pretty much any strange-ass thought/impression/occurrence on these pages. An example: so, like, a few minutes ago, I’m cable-surfing and stop for a second at the Weather Channel because I hear someone say, ‘Indiana‘… naturally I think, ‘hey, thats where Christine lives!’* The whether guy says, “…a threat of thunderstorms into tonight, and we have to mention, of course, that there is always a chance of tornadoes in or around or near the center of this area (a red blob on his whether map), there is a 3 out of 10 chance** of possible tornadoes!! So you should be prepared with your NOAA radios or apps and standby for any ‘life threatening warnings‘!” I laughed.

4) I am grateful that I don’t live with Dyanne (well, not grateful that I don’t live with her…that might not be awful, just not in Tornado Junction OK (or Missouri or wherever it is she and I do not live together at)… I was raised on the 1940s movie, ‘Wizard of Oz’, and even though I have never seen a tornado in person, I find the very concept totally frightening. Now, I’ve stood on the beach as the eye of a hurricane passes, but tornadoes? …way too identifiable, personal, specific …scary storms.

5) hey, older Readers!! anyone of an an age to have seen and enjoyed watching ‘The Wizard of Oz’, allow me to recommend ‘Tin Man’ this is a most excellent re-telling of the original… you should look it up and watch it, you’ll be glad you did. (Hey hey! according to my reading of the the BoSR, (aka BoR) this counts as a paid-forward-gratitude-item!)

6) glad that this bloghop enables me to make movie recommendations! My reading of ‘the Book’ says that if you take my advice, watch the movie and enjoy it, then next week you should have a 10% easier time writing your TToT!

7) I am grateful this week to my wife Phyllis for writing our Guest Post Thursday Guest Post this week…very nice work, quite rogerian (the rogerian weeks are coming to be my favorite of the three cycling Guest Posts)

8) I am hypograteful for the progress of the current Summer season. I am, of course, glad the days are long and last almost until night, but I am one of those people who, when asked by some scott ‘Hey! hot enough for ya?!’ will answer, sincerely and truthfully, ‘why no, no it is not hot enough for me’. I see ahead on the calendar… scenes of Eskimos raking leaves and gathering food for the long, cold and not warm winter season. In fact, when I leave the office in the middle of the day, and my car has been sitting in the sun for a couple of hours, I enjoy putting both hands on the steering wheel and feeling the warmth, sort of a 29.3 mpg sauna, ya know?

9) …that so many of my friends online go on vacation….Lizzi this week, Christine last week, Dyanne the week before and…and Joy the week before that, I enjoy the concept of ‘going on a vacation’ and so get a kick out of hearing about their time, at the shore, in the woods, on the road.

10) …oh, yeah! I am grateful for all the new Readers and Participants at this here bloghop, here ( like Pattie and Val and NaPR and Jen… Summer can be busy and often the ‘regulars’ have activities that draw them away during these weeks. (Sort of how, if you had to had to go to Summer School, you might get to know people you only saw in passing during the normal school year). …and I enjoy watching people come here for the third time and see it dawn on them, “you mean you can make up Rules, as long as they are clever enough?” or ” so, if I see someone say something to someone else in a Post, it’s not rude to, like, totally interrupt?!?” even, “GuardVirgins? what the hell kind of bloghop have I stumbled in to?!!?” not to worry… if anything too weird seems to happen, you can always ask zoe

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A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Amycake and the Dude, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, I Want Backsies, Mother of Imperfection, Rewritten, Thankful Me, The Wakefield Doctrine

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* yes, I do think the word ‘hey!’ no, I don’t ever consider that it might be strange that I have to shout to get my (own) attention

** which is clearly more attention worthy than say, ‘a 30% chance of tornados’

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: personality types, relationships, self-improvement, the Wakefield Doctrine

Mechanical Friday the Wakefield Doctrine (it’s like ‘Pfhuckit Pfhriday’ only way more laid back, y’know?)

July 25, 2014 By clarkscottroger

Welco…

hey, it’s causal Friday. no! no need to be formal, take your cap(ital letter)s off…leave the grammiticon at the door. it’s a Summer Friday …er day. …as Friend of the Doctrine, Glenn might say, ‘don’t worry ’bout nothin’

hell, I might even drag out a case of comic sans, things get mellow enough, ya know?

Anyway. Big thankation to Phyllis for helping us continue the increasingly popular series, Thursday’s Guest Post Thursday Post. She provided us with a very good/interesting/fun Post. It was all that I have come to expect from rogers, interesting and engaging in an odd, (but pleasurable), way. you know, like a full-on diorama in a first class museum…with, like prehistoric family scene (not the Raquel Welch…or even Barbara Bach version…. maybe the Rae Dawn Chong version)… you look and notice all the amazing details and can’t help but wonder (at least the clarks do) what they might be doing to pass the July afternoon up in the Dordogne part of France…

as a matter of fact, just last evening, I was talking to the progenitor roger about the series and I made the statement, “…of ‘the three’, the rogerian Posts have somehow been the most Guest Post-ly”. Meaning that scotts, hell! their Posts are like their real lives: fun, outrageous, un-un-noticable. clarks… their posts are kind of a, I don’t know… ‘pain-in-the-neck, aggravating… but the rogerian Posts have totally been, ‘oh, I see. how interesting’

speaking of clarks, scotts and rogers… we all remember that this Doctrine is meant to be used as a tool, right? not just a ‘tool to help better understand the people in our lives‘ but, (also), a tool to better understand our own-selfs, to be used to self-improve ourselves. The idea is, of course, that by understanding, appreciating and accepting the different realities of the three worldviews, we are less likely to get trapped, (and therefore limiting our choices of actions), by misunderstanding how the other person is experiencing the situation. This approach to self-development is better than anything because, as we all know, while you have only one predominant worldview, you always have the potential of being able to see the world as do ‘the other two’.

…anyway. quick question:

if I decide to do a series of Posts that uses a real life problem/challenge/opportunity-to-improve as an example of how the Wakefield Doctrine might be an effective tool, should I:

use a problem that is common to most people (and not just olden ones) but is a fiction, made up…not nearly true (not even a story done with the skill of our Ms. Rogers….where you have more trouble believing her when she ends the story with ‘This is Fiction’ than you do giving up your involvement with the character in (her) story), you know, a composite situation (or)
my own stupid life, I’m sure I can find something to put up in print (though the character might end of being a bit boring and likely to cause you all to scream at your computers/phones, “what??!?! are you nuts?!?! you don’t see what a self-setup that is ?!?! jeez!!! don’t forget to run down the battery in your phone and throw your car keys in the woods before you walk into the abandoned building (metaphorically speaking of course) hey, don’t destroy the illusion for us, you don’t really fall for a rogerian trap like that, do you?….come on!”
roger (the progenitor) has a potentially interesting, albeit a problem that will require 4 or 5 thousand words of set up, life situation that I personally believe would be very useful of this purpose, but it is his story….
volunteers from the Readership… give us a situation that you have encountered (directly or as observed in a person in your life), and lets see what we can find in this here Doctrine here to help

seeing how Friday this Post is, lets leave it at that… tell us what you would find interesting enough to follow and we’ll start a Series.