Month: April 2021 | the Wakefield Doctrine

TToT -the Wakefield Docrtrine-

April 18, 2021 By clarkscottroger

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

Cold afternoon at the office, pictures of Ola and a wall clock that might run backwards if I but find the proper key.

This is the Ten Things of Thankful (TToT) bloghop.

Brought into existence by Lizzi in 1998, on a bespoke-pleasant day down Manchester way. Sharing a defining quality with the simplest of tools, i.e. handsaw, hammer, imagination and perspective. It works fine without knowing anything, with practice, it can result in miracles.

Each week, any number of writers, thinkers, dreamers, procrastinators and some who were drawn in by the promise of music and company; a list of Ten Things. These are gathered and curated by our current hostinae, Dyanne. Among these writings: inspired reflections, graceful insights and… the shoebox of toys and odd things, (not so much gathered as retained for the potential of an un-defined future use), that is the Wakefield Doctrine.

Following are those gratitudinous occurrences that have….err occurred over the last seven days.

1) Una

2) Phyllis

3) the Wakefield Doctrine because with an additional perspective and a determination to shame Helen Keller, a person can find within, worlds and lifetimes they did not live, nevertheless exists and is, much more importantly, available. The price: the willingness to set aside the conviction that the world we were originally taught, is the only reality. A simple decision and the door will open to more than we can imagine.

4) Serial stories: ‘the Whitechapel Interlude‘ and ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf‘

5) the 20 Minute Real Estate Briefing Because knowing too little can be expensive. Each week the topic of buying and selling real estate is brought out, spun around and considered from as many different angles as we have time for.

6) the weather in New England… how, in as little as twenty-four hours, we can go from conditions illustrated in the photo above, to a day where the temperature fought vainly to escape ‘the 40’s’

7) the Six Sentence Story bloghop the place for flash-fiction.

8) something, something

9) the technology that makes all this possible

10) Secret Rule 1.3 (which legend has it, was the legal basis for God’s admonition to Adam and his second wife, Eve; legal scholars have made careers on arguing ‘without a Secret Book of Rules, what kind of teeth does that leave the person/institution/Supreme Being when it’s time to rain down the lightening bolts and righteous …. brothers? what the hell do Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield have to do with the Book of Secret Rules (aka the Secret Book of Rules)?!! ohh! ok’)

music vids

(hate to say it, but I prefer the Hall and Oates cover)

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Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: the Wakefield Doctrine

Friday -the Wakefield Doctrine-

April 16, 2021 By clarkscottroger

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

So, we were taking part in an interview, courtesy of our Six Sentence Story friend, D. Avery, earlier in the week. It was both challenging and fun. (Read it here.) The challenging part was over quickly enough, i.e. overruling my natural inclination to respond to the invitation with a brusque, “Err…no thank you”*.

That being said, it was fun to ‘get out’, and the members of the blog that hosted the interview, ‘the Carrot Ranch‘ are a genuinely accomplished and interesting group of writers. Ostensibly an interview with us as a writer, along with a ‘set up’ (of) an interview with a character (Ian Devereaux), the Wakefield Doctrine naturally came up. Not so odd, as many of the questions were about writing and approaches to writing.

So, as often happens when it is the topic, one of the participants asked about the Doctrine. Rebecca Glaessner, a participant at ‘the Ranch’, wrote a comment on the interview, which included the words, “… your theory of Clarks(sic) resonates deeply.”

….well!

The Wakefield Doctrine is a perspective on the world and the people who make it up. We are, all of us, born with the potential to experience reality in one of three distinctly (but secretly interrelated) separate ways, as would an Outsider(clarks), a Predator(scotts) or a Herd Member(rogers). At an early age we settle into one (and only one) of these three personal realities. The social styles, the interpersonal strategies we develop (our personality types) are in response to the world we experience it.

A clark lives in the world of the Outsider and so learns to stay out of the spotlight (while contending with a insatiable curiosity), a scott starts running and only stops when necessary, the world of the Predator not being kindly disposed to introspection and, the Herd Member, well, they’re at home the minute they look around; rogers, living the life of the Herd, belong and looking, receive confirmation there is a Right Way to do things and it’s merely a matter of completing the list for all to be right in the world.

While we have only one predominant worldviews, we never lose the capacity to experience the world as do ‘the other two’. (This will explain why sometimes, usually under duress, we find ourselves acting like someone else. Example: I’m a clark with a significant secondary scottian aspect. I know about a personality theory and will tell you at the slightest provocation. lol)

clarks think, scotts act and rogers feel.

clarks live in their minds, scotts in their bodies and rogers in their hearts.

The highest accomplishment one can achieve employing the Wakefield Doctrine is to fully appreciate how we relate ourselves to the world around us. The guiding ambition behind learning and employing the perspective made available by the Doctrine is be able to see the world as the other person is experiencing it.

(Pro-tip: Search youtube for: ‘the pen scene’ in ‘Casino’ and ‘I’m gonna get you Stewart’ in ‘Wolf’ and bar scene in ‘Maddog and Glory’ (the one with David Caruso in the thumbnail).

You will be treated to a scene(s) of: a roger and a scott, a scott and a roger and a clark and a scott, respectively. Language advisory (well, one them has Joe Pesci in it, after all! lol)

So let’s end this with a simple warning: Once you’ve learned the characteristics of the three worldviews** Well, at least enough to spot the clarks, scotts and rogers in your world, you may be unable to not see them.

With the Wakefield Doctrine as an additional perspective, you will know more about the other person than you should. Use this power wisely. …and discreetly.***

* lol so, what, exactly would a brusque, ‘errr’ sound like? I’d say, ‘Once a clark, always a…’ however, as the old saying reminds us, “Awareness is nine-tenths of change”

** any clark will betray their own worldview by the quickness they accomplish this. Not such a surprise, seeing how we (clarks) are all trying to make sense of the world around us.

*** no! serially! in the early days, given half a chance, I’d say to people…”Yeah, it’s like a personality theory, except better! For instance, even though we met only a few minutes ago, I can tell you what shoes you have in your closet… hey! Where you going?!”

lol

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

Six Sentence Story -the Wakefield Doctrine-

April 14, 2021 By clarkscottroger

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

This is the Six Sentence Story bloghop.

Denise is the host and does one thing each week: a) provide a prompt with which we might ground our stories and 2) remind us to be precise in our sentence length: Six.

We are in a Whitechapel Interlude week. What follows is the next installment in this serial story.

And…and! we have a guest contributor/writer joining us. Ford, over at Atomic Mage, has consented to join us in what we refer to as a ‘walk on’ in our story world. (Basically taking the elements of the story/characters/world and finding something that we didn’t know was there. It’s a lot of fun.)

So head over to Ford’s Six Sentence Story, ‘The Calling of Molly Jane Hardy‘ and get yourself an extra serving of ‘the Whitechapel Interlude’.

This week the prompt word is:

WALK

The aroma of soup trailing the food cart as we made our way to the Order of Lilith’s soup kitchen on Thrawl Street produced an effect like Winter turning into Spring: human forms, large and small, stirred in the most fundamental of stimulus/response; in comparison, the most alluring perfume of a lover held close after a prolonged separation was less than a sprig of lilac thrown into the North Sea.

Brother Abbott had ended the morning’s meditation oddly, citing Isaiah 11:6-9, all the while staring at me with am expression suspiciously similar to the one on my face when confronting an especially long line of starving children, weaving a line like pale lichen, trying to cling to the storefront we now approached; reaching for my keys I felt a pull on my arm.

“From Brother Abbott,” Sarah’s face, ordinarily simple to the point of elegant beauty, held an expression frightening by the strange alchemy that occurs when the familiar is juxtaposed in an uncanny way, like empty windows in an abandoned house at the onset of evening, “You need to check on the status of the time traveler, do not delay, I brought an acolyte who will help me finish serving the food.”

“No, Mr. Egmont is no longer a guest,” The desk clerk let his words find their own way, staring at the linen and cord of the robes of the Order I wore, as if his non-interaction was sufficient to communicate his disapproval at my dress; there was a pause in his voice, “Our former guest has been quite popular this morning, you’re the second of your kind to inquire; I’ll repeat myself: he left instructions to forward any mail and all visitors inquiring after him to Baker Street, Chiltern Court, I believe, to be precise.”

Running out through the grand entrance of the St Pancras hotel, scanning the distant sidewalk, I caught a flash of golden hair disappearing into the river of pedestrians flowing slowly towards the green-on-granite of the Regent’s Park; despite the distance and the incongruity, I knew it was Sarah.

Stopping myself from sprinting down the granite stairs, I managed to avoid being trapped by intellectual indignation at the world not conforming to my expectations, courtesy of Brother Abbott, “Trying to reconcile the impossible with the everyday world is God’s most effective subterfuge, know your heart and your mind will follow along,” I embraced the effects of his words and, with the address on Baker Street as a focus, began to walk.

https://youtu.be/o6rOiaThksY

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: Six Sentence Story, the Wakefield Doctrine

Monday -the Wakefield Doctrine-

April 12, 2021 By clarkscottroger

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

Hey! Fun post here, yo.

Our friend, Ms. Avery, from the Six Sentence Story bloghop informed me that the interview is ready to go to print! (Well, not ‘print’ print, ‘print’ read is more accurate).

Damn!*

D. Avery, a most talent rhetorician** who has a site, SHIFTNSHAKE (Home-brewed Prose & Poetry) asked me a few weeks ago if I’d let her and her friends at this flash-fiction site, where she’s like a founder or mainstay or total core-group, called (the) Carrot Ranch, do an interview. And, I was all, like, ‘Well, sure?’

This being the Wakefield Doctrine I answered all the questions and such.

Here is the result of that process (and irrepressive evidence the Wakefield Doctrine is a hella good tool for self-developing oneself):

Saddle Up Saloon; Howdy Clark Farley

(Hey, do me a solid and click over there and, you know, write a comment and such… you don’t have to mention being denizens here in ‘Outsider Emporium’ and all lol Or, tell ’em ‘Yeah, I been been known to associate with dicey characters, alluring femme fatales and stream-of-consciousness gurae****)

* an expression of appreciation for others, mixed with a touch of the self-consciousness of the Outsider, (Outsider motto: “Well, I don’t mind attention from friends and (some) contemporaries…but reserve the right to feel slight discomfit prominence, which is, all too often, the precursor state to scrutiny.”) But I kid. It’s fun and, and!! New Readers? This is all directly attributable to the efficaciousness of one personality theory. (Hint: Rhymes with Wakefield Doctrine… lol)

** what the hell! I was going to apply one of my favorite jokes, you know, ‘not a ‘real’ word’ and, as I often do¹ I looked up the word and it’s an actual, defined and listed in, like Mirriam-Webster and the fricken Oxford Dictionary!

**** pl. guru. example: you the Persistent Reader and them what identify with this crowd

being a clark, I have zero self-consciousness or such about looking up words… it’s not like I’m ever gonna be accused of being dumb or stupid, ya know? Crazy, sure, get that all the time, but the thing about being an Outsider, intellectual insecurity really isn’t an issue

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: personality types, psychology of personality, self-improvement, Six Sentence Story, the Wakefield Doctrine

TToT -the Wakefield Doctrine-

April 10, 2021 By clarkscottroger

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

This is the Ten Things of Thankful (TToT) bloghop. Created by Lizzi in late May 2003, it is a collection of the contributor’s reflections, insights, thoughts and feelings rising from the conscious and deliberate effort to express the significance of gratitude in their respective lifes. …plus a post from us here at the Wakefield Doctrine. To remind us that reality is, at times, only as real as you make it. As we all know, there is nothing more personal than personal reality*.

But, serially, this bloghop is a) inspiring and/or beneficial to Readers and Authors and 2) is, at times, fun. Whaddya gots to lose? If you’ve made it this far, we will hazard to say, you have got what it takes to be a TToTeer… (err… Thankful-ette? nah… Gratitoid. ewww…. blogger-with-benefits? that’s not bad… BwB! Lets see how that flys in the coming weeks or whatever the half-life of almost-good nicknameage is.)

So, lets wave to our host, Dyanne, and get out there and see what kind of mischief we can ourselfs into.

1) Una (for whom a television is just another window to the world)

2) Phyllis (while being human is hobbled by the hierarchy of reality, ‘this you can touch! it is surely the truest reality’ still enjoys the capacity to feel without touching and touch without feeling and knowing without either.’)

3) the Wakefield Doctrine

4) serial stories: ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf‘ and ‘the Whitechapel Interlude‘

5) (the) Six Sentence Story bloghop

6) the 20 Minute Real Estate Briefing (this week, I’ve linked to our Facebook page… though, the YouTube page is easier to sort through)

7) (grateful for a chance to pay it forward)… A little backstory: our property includes a pond and a treehouse and a bridge over the aforementioned pond. (This is iteration 27 of ‘the Ola bridge… which was constructed by Phyllis and Denise… photo at the top of the post) The thing about the property is that we’ve never had kids take advantage of the woods since the first year we moved in when we came upon a group of early teens building a campfire under the shelter of the largest pine tree on the property. Plenty of pine needles for kindling… lol We said, ‘No, don’t do that.’ and they ceased and left… a couple other times over the thirty years we’ve been here… mostly four wheel motorcycle things favored by young scotts. Pretty much been peace and quiet for the three of us.

So this morning Phyllis came up as I was starting the first brush pile clearing of the season and said, “There’s someone down on the bridge.” So I said, “OK lets go down there and check it out.” From a distance it was clearly a young person standing on the bridge with a fishing pole. Phyllis went back to the house, but, for unclear reasons** I decide to go down to the bridge.

It was a boy of, maybe eight or nine, and he stood on the bridge, pulling on his fishing pole which was almost completely vertical. I decided, almost immediately, that he wasn’t fly fishing. Then I noticed a corresponding motion of a tree limb that over-hung the bridge. Ah ha! His line was caught up in the tree. I continued in silence and the boy continued in silence. He was totally concentrating on the point where his fishing line was entangle with the branch, but I knew he was aware of me (what can I say, he was young and his powers of invisibility fairly undeveloped). The branch, holding the fishing line was way out of reach.

Finally I stood next to him on the bridge. He looked up at me when I said, “Caught in the branch?” He said, “Yeah”. As it turned out, the tree the branch was attached to was a sapling and so, I bent the whole thing downwards over the bridge. The kid went to work on trying to untangle his line, which he eventually did. In silence, no conversation needed. The Doctrine tapped me on the shoulder when I noticed another kid, older and bigger farther up along side the pond (maybe 100 yards away). I looked the kid on the bridge and he said, “That’s my friend, I live next to him,” pointing in a vague direction, “we came in through the woods.”

The ‘friend’ was busy fishing. I interrupted him briefly by calling out, but he was busy.

I left the very young clark to get through the rest of his day. I feel good that I was able to help another of my people avoid an un-necessarily unpleasant interaction with ‘real’ life. I thought of a million things to tell him, ninety-nine percent of which amounted to, “You are a competent human, but the strength of that understanding will never come from others. And, though an outsider, you have value.”

I wished him well as I walked away. In my mind, of course, in my mind.

8) THIS SPACE AVAIALBLE

9) Of course, it’s no secret that live webcams are the only genuine entertainment on the net. We both enjoy watching the Iceland volcanos…. and the only place (and totally enjoyable to listen to his take) is the Dr Fox2000 (webcam). We recommend it.

10) Secret Rule 1.3 (from the Book of Secret Rules aka the Secret Book of Rules) which states (or implies) “…[t]he near completion, or finding oneself in typing-distance of the last item (traditionally Item 10)… the rhetorical question, ‘How does that make you feel, what with almost, actually, completing this list?’ is floating in the air with little thought balloons… “Number Ten!! I would be a perfect Item 10!!” ….err, op.cit. ibid, y’all”

* the idea that reality, (as experienced by individuals), is intrinsically personal, is central to the foundation of the Wakefield Doctrine. Nothing weird. Well, nothing too weird. Not like puppies performing open heart surgery or a clark leading a fundamentalist congregation

** it is almost axiomatic at the Doctrine that, for clarks, very often the best reasons (for action or behavior) is unknown. At least at the outset.

music

* (For the record, we at the Doctrine tend not to enjoy favorite music played by musicians who are, somehow, (and quite disconcertingly), now old people (think Paul McCartney but do not think any of the giants of the 80s, god is paying those poor bastards back, big time… kinda like a ‘Rejuvena Infomercial’ in reverse… despite their talent… no fun to watch; mortality does not always inspire gratitude and appreciation. That said, we came across this ‘update’ of a classic of the 70s: Average White Band’s ‘Pick of the Pieces’… done in an episode of Daryl’s House… I smiled as the playing was most excellent and ever one seemed to be having fun)