Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
you know the weirdest thing about clarks? It’s not the funny little half-smile you see on their faces when they’re in the group you’re addressing, (and you know, for certain, that you have not said anything funny), it’s not the odd way that the female contingency (mostly the women, but not exclusively), choose to dress… like a Fire Engine, bristling with emergency rescue equipment….painted a soft blue, it’s not even the way that clarks will be so quiet, even…no! especially when things all around are getting crazy…crazier …craziest, they seem to be apart, almost as if the (current) desperate situation that has the rogers fretting and the scotts shouting, causes them to grow… more, more of whatever it is they are…
…no, the weirdest thing about clarks is their morning time. (This is not necessarily literal. It is, necessarily, the time between demands and performance. The offstage moment, as the house lights go down). That is the strangest part of ‘the experience of the world from the personal-reality-perspective of clarks (the Outsiders).
It (seems) to be a time of choice, it is (often) a time of desperate hope, it is (always) a time of incredible … distance.
This distance is not as common and simple as physical distance (although, have you ever been in a crowd of people, say an elevator, where your attention is dominated by, say the floor you are intending to travel to, and then you notice that there is a person standing very-next-to-you? you wonder briefly how you could have not noticed them), and (this distance) is not an emotional gulf between people (although, there are times when you are prepared to accept that the person you care so much about just is not invested in the relationship, and then you see an act of selflessness that takes your breath away), no, the distance is none of these.
the distance (for a clark) is the amazing and awful, frustrating and inspiring distance between the clark and themselves. They think (and think about thinking), they act (and appreciate/regret it as it occurs), they feel and wonder if it’s real.
Tuesday.
(jeez good thing it’s dark and pouring rain outside!)
About clarkscottroger
For some reason I’ve got a song in my head: “The sun’ll come up tomorrow. . .”
…(you know I’m going to find a vid clip….)
Rough morning Mr. Farley?
actually, not! it was one of those mornings, sitting around debating whether to re-print or not, and in my head having one of those…’I wonder where that door leads to…’
lol
good choice… take it from the gal who did the repost.
Thinking about thinking. And about all interactions way too much. Yup.
but we do so much for others (secretly, of course)!
I don’t like your rain or your pouring, but mornings are sacred.
Liz
I don’t mind the rain… (want to hear something weird, well, now that I think about it, for you, not so weird)… I am still walking to the mailbox in the morning, sans coat and shoes. Phyllis and Una walk ahead, appropriately dressed. Today it was raining and in the 40s. I got wet. I was cold. My feet were starting to hurt. I could feel the truth about how good my lot in life was, by virtue of the ‘contrast’. I would think (as I walked), there will/may come a day when I am on a bed, never to arise and if I am able to cast my mind back, I will remember this.)
…and pine for the cold and damp…
oh man! I was thinking about the people who originally lived here, say 4 or 5 thousand years ago. Even allowing for the relativism of never living indoors and being clothed against the elements still, what must have a Tuesday like today have been?
For me, it usuallly is, literally, morning. When this “distance” occurs. Before “outside” influence/interference (people waking up, calling on the phone) spatters my blank canvas.
It is the time between coffee and getting ready for the day. A time I often wish I could stretch for hours, suspending what otherwise is “normal time”. But as yet, I’ve not learned how to stop the earth’s rotation:)
I doubt I’m the only one to appreciate you voicing/translating this aspect of the personal reality/worldview of clarks. Thank you for this post Clark.
Denise
you are certainly welcome. we all possess a common feature (in our non-common natures) that can, that should be of a benefit to each other.
I’m constantly wondering if it’s real..
Michelle
Like the old saying goes, ‘wonder is the foreplay of insight’*
* lol… damn! I swear to god that I did not set out to reply in such a forward manner, however, your own blog is so…. invigorating (to read), I guess it’s only to be expected.