Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
Finish the Sentence Friday was the first bloghop we encountered (and subsequently participated in), once the metaphorical bus pulled back on the asphalt of the information superhighway… leaving me and bundle of Wakefield Doctrine posts under my arm standing in front of the (fill in your favorite metaphor: summer camp/boarding school/induction center/first date’s front door).
There were four hostinae1 at the time. Kristi was there then, as she remains, to this Thursday with an invitation to complete a sentence fragment and, by doing so, reveal our souls to our fellow sentence-finishers*. It’s been a bit of a while since I’ve done a FTSF, but lets just go ahead and jump into the deep end of the kettle of fish Kristi has provided with this week’s sent-frag:
“I used to think… (but no longer do)…”
…that fear would only grow more dominant in my life, insinuating itself further and further into how I related myself to the world around me. This is/was not topical fear, the fear of falling down a well or of throwing up on a bus or even scary monsters that hid in shipping crates, loaded onto trucks and trucked to adulthood. That kind of fear is a reaction to situations, and it actually brings people together rather than separate them apart. “Oh man, did you hear the wind last night, it had to be gusting sixty miles an hour!”
The fear I used to think was inevitable and eternal is more… institutional. It, (for reasons lost in time), was so deeply ingrained as to no longer needing symbols of fright or threats of danger. Far more insidiously, this fear becomes a part of a person’s strategy. The pre-decisions that are made whenever we walk into a new place where everyone else is already seated, they are calculated to be triggered in any situation where I am at risk of scrutiny.**
So each day I would resolve to not act like I am afraid of anything/anyone. This was done with good intent and an approximation of informed decision. But I was attempting to produce a response to the world and the people who make it up without accounting for the true premise, the aforementioned, fear of scrutiny. As a result I would be stuck in a cycle. My decisions would be influenced by this fear, leaving avoidance my only realistic hope (lol). Side-stepping confrontation and trying to eliminate all risk-taking seemed the only way to navigate through the day in an otherwise non-remarkable life. (Of course, we all know how confrontation-inducing avoidance of conflict can be when you make it a style of interpersonal behavior.)
(Full Disclosure: I have not yet eliminated institutional fear. It still is an integral element in the decisions I make as I move through life. The difference now is that I am aware of it and am beginning to accept it within myself as being…. not great, but not a total washout in the character trait Olympics. The perspective available in the Wakefield Doctrine forms the basis of this new(er) er…. ‘thing to think’. However, it is the community I’ve discovered in these pages, in this virtual world that provides me the reinforcement that comes from encountering other clarks. And, in meeting them (or simply noticing them) I might identify with their successes and share in their setbacks.)
If I may ask our host to do the honors:
Finish the Sentence Friday is a link-up where writers and bloggers come together to share their themselves with a particular prompt (different formats each week of the month). If you’d like to participate, join our Facebook group. Link up your prompts below! Please no “link dumping.” If you include a link, comment on other posts.
* not a ‘real’ word
** as will come as little surprise, the Wakefield Doctrine mentions scrutiny as the core/existential threat to most clarks. It is not that we have anything to hide, it’s the suspicion that the world has hidden something from us, something about our true nature, character that is the reason that we are Outsiders, apart from…ya know?
1) they included: Stephanie, Janine and Kate and Stephanie Kenya
About clarkscottroger
I honestly thought you’d promote your awesome book, but DUH, as a Clark, obviously I get that you’re not ready, and all the things. Your words “as being…. not great, but not a total washout in the character trait Olympics.” OMG yes, this. It’s like we Clarks *know* we’re possibly almost maybe great, and sometimes believe others when they confirm this, but as observers, we also feel other than, as you said.
Here’s to living each day not afraid of anything, or at least, pretending to not be. Also? I’m so happy you linked up. You’re the bombdiggity.
totally*
still a ways to go.
You wanna hear the cool part? It’s all the Doctrine… i.e. not so much writing it (though there is an element of that) but my being ‘able’ to go out there in the world (virtual or otherwise) and say, ‘Hey I wrote a book, could you/would you be my beta reader….’ totally not possible sans Doctrine.
(And you personally, too… being the one in the group when I first got pushed out of the crowd (by our favorite personality theory) and you were one of them what said, ‘ok guys, I know he seems a little weird, but lets let him hang out with us.’)
thanks
*agree with both your observations and conclusions
Flatterer. Clark, in his confidence too right? I’m SO &^%$ (obviously the f word over and over with a itty at the end for good measure) glad that you are able to go out there asking for betas (said that way on purpose because I’m convinced it might make you uncomfortable and if there’s anything about Clarks that’s awesome, is that we tease to uncomfort but also sympathise in it while doing so). As in, you ROCK. I love your weirdness, and I love that understanding being a Clark has helped me to embrace more of mine.
yeah right? It’s all this here Wakefield Doctrine here. I’ve said from the start (back in June 2009) that, for whatever reason, the Doctrine has supplied me with whatever energy that results in moving beyond my ‘normal’ clarklike ways. But then again, its through finding and identifying with other clarks that I benefit most… I see clarks do amazing things and I… not gain hope, rather recognize the potential I have and I see clarks survive the often awful parts of our worldview and there …again, not hope, simply recognize that within the strength is there. (Funny thing about strength and potential. It’s not embracing it and using it… its fricken seeing and acknowledging that it’s there, within. And, by virtue of being ‘there and within’ I am not required to provide any extra credentials in order to benefit, I get to use them…because they are there, within.
ya know?
After years of reading your posts when we both link up, I’m still not sure what I am, but I think I’m a Roger…anyway, thought-provoking as always! Fear can be a huge factor in much decision-making, and it takes a good deal of self-awareness to recognize that and try to minimize it.
the beauty of the Doctrine is that ‘what you are’ (in terms of predominant worldview) is yours to decide. it offers three perspectives on the world (and the people that make it up) and it mostly comes down to: which of the three, as lenses, produces the clearest image of the reality we find ourselves in…
fear is, as one of my favorite sayings holds, the only enemy.
Fear is a liar.
way true that
I don’t like to think about the kind of fear that grips you so tightly that you are utterly paralyzed by it. I do think we all have triggers for that kind of panic inducing fear. It’s whether we can move past it some (coping mechanisms) or just try to avoid the triggers as much as possible.
but like most challenges, what we can learn about ourselves (but the current actual and future potential) as a result of interaction with fear is a gift, if we’re able to claim it.
You are so right. Thanks for the insight.
Thanks for stopping by the Doctrine.
Good FTSF. The beauty of the Doctrine is that now, I can stop and ask myself why I don’t want to do a certain thing at a particular moment (especially at work lately) and 9 times out of 10 I can identify it as fear. Then I consider what the fear represents.
ain’t that true and it’s that pause, when it happens, that makes all the difference.
I had a session today (enough said, DM me for more) and fear was the main thing. There’s so much to that.
The beauty part of the Doctrine (imo) is that affords those inclined (and equipped) to gain an additional perspective. Not an Answer… (those are for us as individuals to discover) but a perspective. And I’ll totally meet after school outside where there are no teachers anyone who tries to say that less perspective is better than more…
Fear is, indeed, the only enemy* And, so no New Reader might think that fear is the exclusive domain of clarks, I remind all of ‘The Everything Rule’ Which states, ‘everyone does everything, at one time or another.’ Which, of course, simply means that fear manifests differently in the three worldviews. And there is one of the useful aspects of the Doctrine… we all have the potential to experience the world as do ‘the other two.’
* I so wish I’d come up with that…
As always, your posts bring out a gem or two. “not a total washout in the character trait Olympics.” Is one of today’s. Thanks for playing this weekend! I love to see you around!
Good to be back with the FTSF gang. I always enjoy it.
“Side-stepping confrontation and trying to eliminate all risk-taking seemed the only way to navigate through the day in an otherwise non-remarkable life.” Seems like I’m not the only one… hopefully, the remarkable is starting to take shape… xoxox