Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
Before we begin, let’s see if I can tell a story*
This past Friday, as I was stopped at a traffic light, I watched in my rearview mirror as an expensive SUV pulled up behind me. The driver, a woman looking to be in her late 30s, was dressed, made up, (whatever the correct term for ‘looking a certain way’ ), consistent with the vehicle. She looked, in my rearview mirror, to be a woman of means. Naturally that caused me to ask myself, ‘why is it you think that and what does that tell you (about yourself)’? Nothing unusual there, what any clark would think, when forced to sit and wait in a car, surrounded by other cars and their drivers. But! I looked (in my rearview mirror) and noticed a dog in the passenger seat. It appeared to be a smaller, poodle-like dog, long curly hair, large nose. I smiled (I like dogs). Then I noted the change in my attitude towards the well-dressed woman in the driver’s seat. I now felt….more positive towards her. (Being a person who practices the Wakefield Doctrine pretty much all the time, this change set off a series of questions, mostly regarding why I felt on the defensive when I first saw the driver, but now was feeling decidedly friendly towards her.) All this took place in the space of about 3 minutes. I kept glancing back, (through the rearview mirror). at the woman and the dog, until the traffic light turned green. As I started forward, (turning left towards my office), I saw a person’s hand raised on the passenger’s side of the car behind me (it was, by the way, a Mercedes SUV) and I saw that, sitting in the passenger seat, was a little and rather old woman with curly blond hair. I laughed. I felt grateful for the moment.
There’s the story.
The second theme (of) today’s Post is courtesy of 2 comments made about the Doctrine. One from our friend Kristi and one from an associate at work. Both gave me a new appreciation of my efforts to present and explain the Wakefield Doctrine. From Kristi:
“I’m also excited and thankful for the upcoming holidays, but that really isn’t a surprise.
Family history seems to be one of those hobbies that transcends worldviews.”
From the woman at the office**
We were in the office yesterday and, at one point, I said to her, “hey, I know you don’t read the blog, but the newest concept is really very helpful, it’s called ‘the everything Rule“. I proceeded to explain that ‘the everything Rule’ (short for: ‘everyone does everything at one time or another Rule’), suggests that rather than try to see where something fits into the three worldviews, a better way is to assume that when person does a thing, i.e. ‘enjoy genealogy or eating in a restaurant or taking a shower’, what that thing is, is different for a clark or a scott or a roger. That, in fact, ‘taking a shower’ manifests differently in each of the three worldviews. She said, ‘That sounds like it waters down the Doctrine, but let me think about it a little’.”
These impromptu observations made me realize two things:
- that I must re-focus on the fact that the Wakefield Doctrine is talking about three different realities… sure, they’re personal realities, but it is still a reality
- this notion that we live in a reality that is personal, is the linchpin for the Doctrine, and while admittedly a difficult concept to accept, without it, the Wakefield Doctrine is just another clever categorization of traits and habits, quirks and smartass
- I need to work harder on expressing, in this blog, that what sets the Wakefield Doctrine apart from other ‘personality theories’ is that, rather than list likes and dislikes, phobias and secret desires, the Wakefield Doctrine says: your personality type is that collection of successful coping strategies and social adaptions appropriate to the reality you grew up in… if you grew up in the world of the Outsider or the life of the Predator or the reality of the Herd Member…. your personality type is totally appropriate, good and sufficient.
…so, thank you to Kristi and to my associate at work for a reminder that this writing thing, while fun and enjoyable, is really fricken aggravating!
* my definition of ‘tell a story’ is: using the least number of words, convey not only an event, but do it in a way that allows a willing Reader to experience what I experienced.
** this person is a scott and she is fairly conversant on the Doctrine, at least to the extent that I have explained it over the years, she is not, however, a Reader of this blog
About clarkscottroger
Sorry if I made it aggravating. You’ve actually been clear about the realities and the everything rule. In yesterday’s post, you mentioned that your first thought was that her interest in family history was due to her rogerian aspect. I was merely trying (albeit unsuccessfully) to second your idea about the everything rule. Family history (or whatever) is not limited to rogers.
Kristi
no! I didn’t mean ‘aggravating’ I meant …aggravating (lol)
I am, in fact, grateful for your Comment because, along with Denise’s Comment in the office reminds me to stay focused on the basics… a) because the basics are basics and 2) because, as a price of success, I find that I sometimes forget to remember the new Readers (of the this blog).
your input is especially valuable (along with Michelle’s) because you are a roger who has a level of insight not all that common among your people… please do not hesitate to make my life uncomfortable!*
* that is intended to be humorous …. but then again, wait until you see the Thanksgiving Post… (all in the spirit of shared worldviews, of course)
:-) I’m sure the Thanksgiving post will be interesting.
I feel like I need to do some more background reading on here. But I am definitely intrigued.
are you sure the comment from the office wasn’t just a pun about the shower?
damn it! you realize that your comment forced me to confront my diminishing powers of… the brain! (I had to go and re-read the post that I wrote way long ago this morning!)… no, I believe she was suggesting that, by offering (what, on the surface, may seem like the suggestion that understanding of an activity or thing is secondary to the three worldviews)
…and I stand by whatever it is I just said!
Well good thing cuz I was just joking…
I knew that. (…I did so!!)
lol
Your attitude changed to the positive because of your “seeing” a dog with her in the front seat. Anyone who rides with their dog up front, regardless of “means”, represents something good to you. Your initial resentment? directed at the young woman of means was allayed(? to tense) by the fact that she travelled with canine companion. Or so you thought!
Skip stays in back….will you think less of me? Hahaha. He used to ride in front but kept wanting to drive….he kept jumping in my lap and pawing at the wheel….he was a used doggie so who knows?
ok….since we’re moving on beyond my own insecurities, lets talk about that dog… (“…I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to the dog.” barr ummp bump!)
ok, so here’s the thing. clarks have a natural….propensity/instinct/capacity to see the weird stuff… not just the horses of a different color, but (at certain, rare, obviously-special-but-fleeting, times) we see the signs of reality being…. subjective.
the benefit is not what is seen, the benefit is knowing that what is being seen is special
as to the SUV and the attractive woman and the dog-who-really-was-an-old-woman, the emotional acceptance that for a certain length of time there was, for all intents and purposes, a dog in the shotgun position and then it ‘turned out’ to be an older female human, was and is the thing of value from that experience….
got to get back to work for now, will be back
Wow…I either gotta stop yankin your chain or you need to be a bit less literal….just sayin.
no! really, I’m sincere/serious/not-wild-eyed! That little event/occurrence was every bit as metaphysically fun and I hoped the story comes across… (part of the reason for writing it was to practice my basic ‘skills’.) the other part was that it was fun, those things happen all the time, it’s just that it’s only a tiny fraction of the time that we have the… whatever to notice
ya know?
I do know… and you got it across well….I actually laughed when I read it….that stuff happens to me all the time. …life of a clark.
“the benefit is not what is seen, the benefit is knowing that what is being seen is special”
No truer words have been spoken:)