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

So to continue our discussion of the woman and the dog:  why make a big/small/any-sized deal out of a mis-perception? Because the Wakefield Doctrine is predicated on the notion that we all live our lives in a reality that is, to a varying, but certain degree, personal. Of course, our little story of the hot and haughty woman driving her dog around in a Mercedes GL550, stopping at a traffic light in Westerly RI only to have the dog turn into a nice old, if not slightly dotty old woman and the driver become a gracious youngish lady out for the day, was meant, entirely for me, it does not prevent us from using it as an illustration of the underlying concepts, principles, tenets and assumption of our little personality theory. Yet the insights that are part and parcel with this 5.7 minute section of an otherwise normal and mundane day, are available to all who would avail themselves of it. This is because, if the Wakefield Doctrine is about anything, it is about perspective. In my case, what I derived from this experience is, in part:

• as soon as I ‘decided’ that I was looking (in my rearview mirror) at a woman of (probable) wealth who was also quite attractive, I reacted in a defensive (and therefore, emotional) manner.* The value of perspective, to those of us employing the Wakefield Doctrine as a tool to enhance our understanding of the people in our lives, is found in our better understanding how the world appears to us. I would say that the most important value in it’s use is the opportunity to become more accepting of ourselves.
• the dog in the passenger seat, reflecting my affection for dogs on to the driver, resulted in my being willing to excuse her, her socio-economic superiority and, ‘realize’ that she might not be as haughty as I first thought (though her hotness was never in doubt)
• to see a dog turn into an old woman is not nearly as impressive as it is to see a dog (where there really and actually was a woman) in the first place and neither matter, it was the effect of my perceptions on my emotional response that matters
• finally,  …. no! the Wakefield Doctrine does not expect us to collapse into intense introspection every time we notice something odd in the world, and no, my noticing (and reflecting upon all that is being described) does not require one to become focused only the three worldviews and the impermanence of reality or run out and buy a Mercedes GL550, it does expect you to remember that:

the Wakefield Doctrine is not an Answer * the Wakefield Doctrine is a bunch of fun and interesting Questions * the Wakefield Doctrine does not tell how to change the other person * the Wakefield Doctrine is a fun way to look at the world around you and offer a perspective * the(se) perspective(s) are what the Wakefield Doctrine is really all about…. discovering and understanding ‘how I relate myself to the world around me?’   …..and no, it is surely not all struggle and work, conflict between the old and the new, it is the simple realization that you don’t need to learn or otherwise acquire new information or knowledge to become a better you, you simply have to see and accept the ‘better you’ that is already there.

ya know?

* major little point here: despite my being a clark, the ‘why’ of any of the events, observations, inferences, assumptions, reactions and conclusions  are not important. The value in what is being described is, as the old saying goes, “…the benefit is not what is seen, the benefit is knowing that what is being seen is special”