Month: April 2016 | the Wakefield Doctrine

TToT -the Wakefield Doctrine-

April 30, 2016 By clarkscottroger

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

Time again for our collective examination of the nature of gratitude, through the lists (Ten) of people, places and things (Things) that cause, elicit or otherwise result in one (presumably the writer) experiencing (a) feeling of gratitude (Thankful).

Personally it’s a challenge to identify 10 Things of Thankful. Not because there’s a lack of things (to feel grateful for), not because I don’t have a sense of appreciation for beneficial people, good things and positive places, it’s just that as a clark, I have a certain, ‘belief that I’m emotionally tone-deaf for my own feelings.’ (best example available this morning of the emotional ‘disconnect’ of some clarks: you ever have a situation where you’re totally indisposed but you get a call that someone else answers and they, like, yell, “hey clark! tell phone call” and you’re like, “er…I can’t come to the phone right now. tell them to call back” and you hear them say something in the phone and then they’re all, “they say they can’t, it’s important!” and you’re “what do they want?” and then you hear them say, “he says, ‘what do you want?” and then like….)

…that’s kinda of what some clarks experience when delving into the more rarefied strata of emotions and such.

(Students of the Doctrine should at this point be responding with a ‘yeah, frickin clarks they gots to make they own lives more difficult than necessary’ and ‘damn! did he just infer what I think he inferred?’)

I was fortunate to have met our Miss Lewis a number of years ago and was subsequently invited to participate in this, the Ten Things of Thankful. (As good a transition to this week’s list as anyone could ask for, no?)

1) Meeting Lizzi back in 2013. If memory serves me, it was through my participation in the Finish the Sentence Friday bloghop

2) I’m grateful for pulling myself out of the past just a moment ago…( I went searching for the first time I met Lizzi, went back to the Finish the Sentence ‘hops, but the way it was done, there were no post thumbnail on my Post (on any given Friday)… and I tried sneaking into L’s past, but a link to her in 2013 is a dead end, as she used Blogger back then. oh well

3) I always include work (on my TToT lists). It is challenging, satisfying and rewarding, but mostly it’s the kind of work that allows me to experiment on myself. As in ‘the Big Experiment’ coming May 12th (and 6 weeks after) wherein I will be participating in a HomeBuyer’s Workshop. Anyone out there that’ve had a bad experience buying a house, as in, “If only I knew that then” variety and care to share… please, enlighten me! Our goal (our being myself and an agent who I’ve worked with on projects in the past, quite successfully, I might add, and, and she’s a scott*) is to address the things about house buying that stresses out, and worries people, but of a nature that, for one reason or another, they tend not to come out and ask about it, before embarking on the adventure. Like that… except I’ve totally got to ditch my ‘professor clark’ vibe, that tweed-covered albatross that I’ve dragged around since kindergarten. lol

4) Phyllis among other things (too numeral**) and too personal to specify here, unless a direct question is asked, she is one of my primary sources of feed back on my writing adventure!

5) Una guru, sensei and co-pilot every Friday afternoon

6) The Graviteers: Christine and Val, Joy and Sarah, Kristi and Lisa go! Graviteers!

7)Co-hostinae at this here bloghop here. hey, you the best!

8) The Secret Book of Rules (aka the Book of Secret Rules) which, according to SR 32.2 sub[chapter 6[8.1] clearly states: “...when a participant in the TToT runs into a situation, condition, problem or ‘hey!!-come-here-you-need-to-see-this-I-know-you’re-trying-to-write-but-this-important!!’ demand from the environment, (ex)ceptions to the General Rules will be entertained, provided that the writer makes (at least) one Reader smile and think, ‘Good one’ and cause zoe, (with or without a raised eyebrow) to say to skip (aka Doug), “yeah, I think I can present this, D! yo get the SGVs on the line… (make sure that new V is there when I present, he’s an interesting one)”

9) My current writing jones, ‘Almira‘. I will, as I often do in these pages, express outrage at my tendencies to get myself into spots, as t cause me to say, (quite sincerely), “What was I thinking! Another Serial story?!! But I did. And I’m grateful for the (serial) format because, even though I get all tied up and stressed out in the middle of the week when I realize that I do not have a clue where the story goes next, by the end of the week(ish), there’s another Chapter!
This coming week, in Chapter 5: a number of the major characters wake up on the Saturday morning of the week in which the story started. Not only Dorothy and Hunk (no! quite separately, hell, not even in the same building), but also Tom Hardesty and Dorothy’s college roommate, Eliza, (who wakes up very not alone, (now) back home at her father’s Estate on the Main Line, for the Summer) and Becky Stillworth, who wakes up quite alone, she is, after all, still only 16 years old and despite any socio-sexual precociousness, she has definite plans for her life that leaves little room for prairie games of the sort that the local 16 year old boys would be more than willing to initiate. And, Claire Griswold. I love that she doesn’t just love her work, and how it’s not just that she cares for the patients in her charge, but that, with all the natural talent and power she possesses, she is not driven. She lives and works and is remarkably effective in both, without the stress of ambition. We’ll know our new friends much better after this Chapter.

10) SR 1.3

Hey!! Anyone think the idea of beta Reading Blogdominion would be fun, let me know! (Not a hundred percent sure how the whole beta reader thing works, but I have Blogdominion all complied into a single doc of 275 pages)

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

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Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: personality types, the Wakefield Doctrine, Understanding Human Behavior

Six Sentence Story -the Wakefield Doctrine-

April 28, 2016 By clarkscottroger

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

Six Sentences, not Six words….sentences. Not 7 Sentences, Exactly six sentences.

‘Ex’ That’s the word. That’s the word?! ‘Ex’ ?!?! jeez, challenge our creative imagination much, zoe? (zoe being the hostess and curator and Madame of ‘Stories, Short and Small’ here at Six Sentence Story.) Come and try your hand (well, literally, mind and fingers, but you know what I mean).

….ain’t getting any more complete a word, so lets have at it.

“I can’t see why you don’t understand how I feel,” the young man was not as old as he sounded, (at times), and much more mature than he acted, (at times).

“I do, but you don’t know what it’s like to be cooped up in this small house, with 2 children, children not yet capable of speaking a complete sentence, at least not without spitting something up or putting something in their mouths as they try, I need to do this for both of us,” leaning over the back of the couch where her husband sat, her feet shifted in the direction of the front door.

A single wail-of-infantile-demand ricocheted down the staircase and began to fill the living room, like snowmelt in a street gutter, once started, it grew in volume.

“We have something special here, how can you not see that?” he put the newspaper on the emptiness of the couch to his left and started to get up, looking up the stairway, turning to aim his words at his wife.

“I know we can get though this, the four of us are a…”

The front door of the handsome Colonial in the most sought-after neighborhood, closed on his words with a finality that made him wince, the swelling volume of the child-cries drew him away from the pain (that he knew would be waiting for the quiet of the night), and didn’t hear the silent cries of the woman outside the heavy wooden door, as she was drawn down into the excitement that now, too late, was clearly intent on exacting far more of her soul than she had ever expected.

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: Personal, personality types, predicting human behavior, relationships, the Wakefield Doctrine

Tuesday -the Wakefield Doctrine- ‘of serials and solutions, advice and ambition’

April 26, 2016 By clarkscottroger

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

image courtesy of: ‘A Fly our Our (Chicken Coop) Wall’

2 Items: Chapter 4 and the Wakefield Doctrine

(That was easy!)

Hey! Chapter 4 of ‘Almira’ is out and loosed upon the world. If you haven’t signed up for new Posts, then here is Chapter 4 (at jukepop.com) and, for those less technological-inclined and prefer the simple and familiar format, here is Chapter 4 (at wordpress). The same Chapter 4, of course, it’s just that, while wordpress is simple and familiar, jukepop is geared to serial stories and presents the chapters in sequence. So, if this your first encounter with the Story of Miss (actually, it’s Mrs.) Almira Gulch and Dorothy and Hunk and a few people who, for some reason, they forgot to include in previous tellings of the Oz stories, jukepop is probably your best bet.
(btw…. I sent out links to, well, to everyone I could think of, but then I was reminded (by Denise) that those of you who’ve signed up, automatically receive each new Chapter, as it’s published. Ain’t science amazing! Sorry about the dupelation.)

[Hey! I’m working on final…final Edit of Blogdominion. Is there anyone out there who would enjoy being a Beta Reader? Let me know]

Item 2:

(courtesy of a Comment from Friend of the Doctrine, Christine)

‘Can’t wait to hear about your workshop. Channel that inner scott!’

As you would’ve guessed, my Reply was quite simple. ‘That’s exactly why we have a Wakefield Doctrine!’

the Wakefield Doctrine is a perspective on behavior and reality and, in a sense, proposes that there are three personality types among people (and, in a sense, everything else). The maintains that, all of us, are born with the potential to experience the world in one of three characteristic ways:

clarks (Outsiders)
scotts (Predators)
rogers (Herd Members

…at a very early age we all, ‘settle in to’ one of these three worldviews (the personal reality that everyone experiences world as/through…in) and then we proceed to grow up and mature and learn ways to deal with the world and it’s demands’, the people (and their demands) and our own potential (and that’s where Christine’s Comment comes in). Where many personality type systems focus on self reporting and the near-endless variety of Quizzes and Tests, without which Facebook would go the way of MySpace…. ( “What’s your Favorite Color!!” / “Don’t you Hate it when your Boyfriend says.…!!!” / “So! You Think You Have What it Takes to Be a Wildlife Biologist?!?” / “Girls! What’s Up with the Crying and Hand-Holding!” / “What Your Favorite Color Socks Tell about You! Don’t Leave the House until you Complete (and Pass) This Test!!”)

The Wakefield Doctrine is quite simple. If you grew up in a reality that was, (in character, nature, just-the-way-things-are), the world of the Outsider, then your ‘personality traits’ would lean heavily to:

‘being inconspicuous’ (without being totally ignored),
‘being funny’ (without having to, like, stand up in front of people and hold their attention),
‘persuasive’ (in a quiet, ‘now that I think of it, that’s a good idea’ sort of way),
‘curious’ (maybe the answer to becoming a real person is hidden in Zoroastrianism). In short, you’ll develop the coping strategies and interpersonal style that is most likely to yield success (however you might define that! lol)

This same view applies to the person who has grown experiencing the world as would a Predator:

‘quick responses’,
very little, ignoring-the-world-while-imagining-what-might-be,
if it moves, chase it,
live today, ’cause it’s the only place that’s real.

or as a Herd Member: the world is knowable! learn it and tell the others…..

So, what makes Christine’s Comment so appropriate, is that the Wakefield Doctrine’s approach to self-improvement is: you never lose the potential of ‘the other two’ world views. Find your inner (clark or scott or roger), practice it and you will become more than you were. This may seem a trivial distinction, that we have the potential, because the perceptive (but annoying) Reader might say (from the back of the classroom, meeting hall or audience),

“Hey! you just said that the personality traits that distinguish one type from the other is the result of growing up and learning to the cope with the reality you’re in… that took, well, years! What good does that do me, I got a presentation in a week and a half! Ain’t got time to grow up again! I want my money back!!”

True. The distinction we make is for those of us who (might) benefit by it. I like knowing that new skills, better ways of living, are not foreign or otherwise outside of my reality. I like knowing that it is inherent (if not practiced), because it’s easier (to me) to develop than it is to find, take, claim ownership and learn to operate something totally new.

Speaking of new and find, time to leave the virtual world and head out into the ‘real’ world. Any questions, write ’em in the Comment box, yo.

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

TToT-retrovisual -the Wakefield Doctrine- “hey! look what I found!” “Wait! no, wasn’t what I thought” …”never mind”

April 23, 2016 By clarkscottroger

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

So we’re driving around, about 20 minutes ago, on our Friday evening walk and I decided to do a video, but after three takes, I don’t believe I have anything to show for it. Other than Item 3.

But, then I got back in front of this electric brain and I thought, hey! lets go find the First TToT Post! I started to search back in 2012 in May (because I was pretty sure this started in May), turns out I was wrong. On two counts, the month and the year. (Yes, to the rogers out there, suggesting a fairly direct way to have predetermined the start date (or at least narrow it way the hell down, I did think of that, but this is the equivalent of rummaging through piles of old magazines. Way more enjoyable.)

Anyway. Turns out to be a year later (2013) and a month later (June). I must have been thinking about the week that I met Christine. (yeah, I love that story, but I’ve told it a bunch of times, so if you want to know, you’ll have to ask her… or Lizzi).

So lets start this weekend off with a re-print!

(No! lets not. I just watched the video I did (one of three takes) and I liked it enough to substitute it for my original Item 1, which was to have been a re-print of the First TToT Post here at everyone’s favorite Doctrine. We’ll save it for a more sentimental weeks, ok?)

Item 1:

Item 2: Una and her good nature and natural ability to live in and of the here and now. A power of example.

Item 3: the grey Toyota that was driving up behind us as we drove around the golf course on our walk. They appeared to be in a hurry, but turned off before I had to pull over and let them pass us. (Yes, it can be the little things that mean a lot.) Not being an organized and detail-oriented blog-writer, as many of my co-hostinae and others in this band of mutants, I have little sense of how to present the seemingly trivial, in a way that doesn’t make them sound like I think they are ….well, trivial. Believe it or not, I was grateful that the bastard-to-be driving the toyota came to the decision to find the Way and not bother me and my dog.

Item 4: We are fortune here at the-blog-that-lizzy-built in that, being all pretty damn, non-ordinary, we have features and tools, conventions and ways of approaching this fairly common bloghop theme, in some very un-common ways. We have Items of Hypogratitudiness that allows us to express certain events and, in this case, passings of people that, no way can you start the item as, “I’m grateful because” (I just noticed that this has become a legitimate, if not frequently cited, Grat Item at the Doctrine. But hell, Secret Rules are Secret Rules, so I’m gonna go ahead and make this a standalone item.)

Item 5: Prince died this week. Readers of the Doctrine might raise an eyebrow at my mention of this, as it falls under the heading of ‘things that happen out there in the world’. Reader all know that it is our way to leave the real world to the experts, and focus on the nature of our relating ourselves to the world around us. And, what makes Prince so noteworthy is just that. I’ve been surprised, (in a good way), at the diversity of the people expressing their sense of loss at his passing. It might be my own myopia, or maybe it’s because people who liked Prince, (and everything that that entailed), didn’t seem to flaunt it. I mean, when you think about it, other than maybe Purple Rain, (movie and the song), he did not get a huge amount of airplay in the fm bandwidth. In fact, I was thinking yesterday, the people who make up the audience of the 2 ‘dinosaur rock’ radio stations in my area would have cared a lot, even the DJs (as people in the music industry) would have cared, but I’ll bet they didn’t have a single Prince album anywhere in the studio. (Yes, I did just qualify myself as a person who might have a ‘dinosaur rock’ radio station set in my car radio. …and, for the record, I do know that they don’t call them albums anymore. lol). Anyway. It’s always sad when someone who has created something that affects so very many people dies. And, at the same time, there’s something about witnessing the reactions of people, a kind of belonging.
oh yeah, another thing. Prince was a clark. (yeah, I know! sometimes people have a problem with that, given his remarkable stage personality. But 20 seconds of watching him in an interview will remove any doubt.) It’s good to know my people can have accomplish so much good in the world.

Item 6: ‘Almira’ Chapter 4 will be released Sunday, (hopefully) Monday (at the very latest). Now that we’ve learned more about Dorothy Gale, it’s time to turn our attention to Almira Ristani, (Gulch, was, of course, her married name). For that we’ll be going back in time to the Winter of 1912 and meeting a young Almira who, along with taking care of her brothers and sisters, (and, if the truth be told), her father, (always a good provider, but he never recovered from the death of his wife Idresca), works in the Everett Cotton Mill, in Lawrence Massachusetts. She has the good fortune to meet Anne LoPizzo during one December ‘lunch break’. Funny thing, always a good judge of character, Annie knew that Almira was someone special from the first time she saw her on the weaving floor, but, when she found Almira, outside, reading her well-worn copy of ‘Self-Reliance’, she knew that she’d found a friend. Like veterans of a forgotten war, or, members of a forgotten sect, Annie held up her copy of Fuller’s ‘Woman in the Nineteenth Century’ and a bond was sealed. Oh! yeah, and Hunk goes back to the library early, there’s this girl there that seems to have a crush on him. Read the rest for yourself.

Item 7: (Just so Kristi doesn’t get too mad about Una having ‘her own Item’), I’m grateful for Phyllis

Item 8: (lol…. come on! I was kidding… that was a joke!!)

Item 9: Got an upcoming challenge at work that involves self-development! How exciting!! I know! What it is, I’m going to put on a Buyer’s Workshop, (along with an agent who has been a co-conspirator in a number of rather creative and pretty damn successful marking projects in the past.) But this is the biggest challenge so far, as, for this to succeed, I’ll need to find within myself a way to be, that will engage the people who attend. The key word is ‘engage’, not teach, not inform, (at least not primarily), and certainly not lecture. ayiiee! lecture is what clarks tend to do, (meaning the best), and that is so not what I will be attempting. Will keep you apprised as the project develops towards the first Workshop May 12.

Item 10: SR 1.3

Your hosts

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

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