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Tuesday -the Wakefield Doctrine- stop the presses!

December 31, 2024 By 10 Comments

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

Hey! Finnallly!

We just had a person request insight into this little personality theory, vis á vis ‘How the Doctrine might be of use in a situation involving a clark and a scott.

New Readers? Not only have we not changed the names, we haven’t actually used any names. Two reasons: ‘We’re a clark“. (ProTip: while clarks are sought out for being good listeners, we are totally un-inclined to make use of the social currency manifest in the personal information such conversations so often convey. Ask any roger. ’nuff said.)

In any event, the question is how does a clark best handle a scott in a situation where they, (the scott), need to be directed down a different path than the one they are on. Very interesting question. In fact, (hold on, we’re gonna create a draft post on just this topic for later publication),…. there done!)

Thing of it is, the Wakefield Doctrine is for you, not them.  Yet, we maintain that with the Doctrine as an additional perspective on the world around us and the people who make it up, one can know more about the other person than they know about themselves. Both are true. And reconciling the seeming conflict between the attitude suggested is how the Wakefield Doctrine manifests as one of the more fun and useful tools for self-improving our selfs.

RePrint (from friend of the Doctrine Christine!)

Guest Post Thursday’s Guest Post! the Wakefield Doctrine (‘clarks think, scotts act and rogers feel‘)

June 5, 2014

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

Christine is our Guest Writer today. Everything that I know, like, respect and appreciate about her is inherent, implied and obvious in the following ‘how-we-met’ story.

back in Feb 2013, I came across a blog titled, Considerings. A good writer, (apparently) new to the ‘sphere and, despite being a clark, very open about the turmoil in her life. I began to write comments on her Posts, in the hope that something from the Doctrine perspective might prove to be useful/helpful. At this time, there were maybe 4 Comments for any given Post,  (and) made something of an initial connection. Then, totally out of the blue, I received  a Comment at the Doctrine, that read,

“I have been seeing your comments on Considerer’s posts, and was a bit curious as to what the clark/roger/scotts you mention means. Now that I’m here, I thought I had it figured out. I think. I do believe I’m a scott. But then I read this post, and got confused all over again. I’ll keep trying. :)”

my immediate reaction was to smile and think, ‘damn! Lizzi has a scottian friend! instinctively, unhesitatingly protective!’

Since that time, I’ve come to know Christine better, (from her blog and as a co-host at the TToT), and, whenever a New Reader says something like, ‘yeah, but don’t you have to ask the other person if they agree with the worldview thing?  how can I know about a person when I’ve just met them?… I smile.

…Christine?

On May 5, I did a dumb thing.  I played in a soccer game with a bunch of 7th and 8th graders.  That in itself isn’t dumb, but playing like it was the final game of the World Cup most certainly was.  Instead of letting the 8th grader just take the ball and try to shoot, I decided he wasn’t going to get a point on my watch and kicked it into high gear.  I beat him to the ball, like I knew I could, but when my foot planted, my body kept going.  I went down.  Think “agony of defeat” guy, without the skies, snow, and downhill parts but with the twisting, falling, crashing, and wailing.

To say I hurt my knee is an understatement.  The physical therapist actually said, “I must be honest, I stopped reading the list of things wrong with your knee halfway through.  You are messed up!”  Surgery is planned.

For the first week after the “major trauma” to my knee, I was unable to do much of anything.  I alternated between excruciating pain and loopiness from the pain medicine and just sat doing nothing all day long.  This is not a good thing for a person of my worldview.  According to the Wakefield Doctrine, I am a scott.  Clark has said many times that he was excited to have some scotts in the group of readers, so you clarks and rogers can get a better understanding of us.  Well, the day has come for him to really get inside my head to see how we operate.

A healthy scott on a school morning…

Get up before anyone else, cut up fruit, prepare breakfast, make sure kindergartener’s backpack has everything in it, fill out forms, write lunch checks, put kindergartener’s clothes out, make sure everyone brushes teeth, remind high schooler to take his phone, go over afternoon schedule with all, kisses and well wishes for the day as they all walk out the door.

An injured scott trapped in bed on a school morning…

Sit up in bed, listen intently to everyone downstairs, grumble that no one is eating anything but cereal, silently scream in her head “For the love of all that is holy, how hard is it to get a piece of fruit or hard boiled egg out of the fridge”, catch a glimpse of a child who dressed in uniform pants he pulled out of his gym bag for the 4th day in a row and holler for him to find a new pair, grumble when he pretends not to hear, take note of how many kids make it to their bathroom to brush teeth, grumble when only 3 out of 5 do, pray that husband has given the kindergartener the kindergartener’s clothes to wear and not his older brother’s, mentally go through the list of things to remind the children, spew entire list at husband when he comes in the bedroom to say goodbye, grumble when he only remembers one thing on the list, pitifully yell to the family “Don’t forget to come say goodbye,” then grumble when no one hears.

A healthy scott at the 8th grade graduation dinner…

Make way to table that “clark” husband has chosen,  stopping to chat with no less than 5 people along the way, finally sit down when emcee asks the group to take their seats, scan the room constantly to see who is there, who they are sitting with, what they’re wearing, chat with at least 5 more people as we wait in line at the buffet, talk with the other people at my table while I eat, get up to get a dessert and never make it back to the table, (so many people to talk to!), get drug out by husband once all but the cleanup crew has left.

An injured scott at the 8th grade graduation dinner…

Slowly hobble in on crutches, stop to talk with no one but answer, “What did you do to yourself?” with a swift, “Played soccer with the kids” at least 30 times, sit at the table as soon as I can and stay there for the duration of the party, eat whatever husband brings back from the buffet, watch with envy as everyone has fun, leave as soon as 8th grader will allow.

A healthy scott during the day…

Shower, do laundry, feed chickens, check to make sure pigs are alive, mow lawn, do more laundry, check social media multiple times, do more laundry, pick up, organize, do more laundry, make all meals, clean kitchen, and basically run ragged all day long.

An injured scott during the day…

Sit on the couch and notice the furniture needs dusting, the floor needs scrubbed, the toys need put away, the socks discarded all around need picked up, the shoes the kids carelessly left at the door need put away;  ponder all of the things most likely being neglected in other rooms, like the laundry piling up the clutter of school and soccer paraphernalia being scattered around the house, the pigs getting sicker and sicker, the bathroom floor getting covered with towels and shin guards and dirty clothes and random crap left in there, and dirty dishes being left all over the counters and the tables; order all children to do all the things; bite tongue almost off in an effort to not yell, “YOU ARE DOING ALL OF THE THINGS WRONG!!”

An injured clark or roger in physical therapy…

I have no idea.  Clark will have to fill you in on this.

An injured scott in physical therapy…

Talk to the therapist about good pain and bad pain, talk and laugh with all other therapists and patients throughout the session, religiously follow all instructions and do all exercises at home, ice the knee three times a day, then two days after the first therapy appointment, come off the crutches and shock all therapists with the progress made.

We scotts are doers.  We scotts work a room (or field) like a boss.  We scotts play with all we’ve got.  Sometimes in all of that doing we crash and burn, but by golly, we are going to be the best damn patients you ever saw in our effort to get back to doing and working and playing.

But I would caution you to avoid us during our days of not doing.  We might be a bit on the grouchy side.

Have a lovely day!

headshot

Christine

 

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Mondeve -the Wakefield Doctrine- (unfurly-noise-maker: HERE)

December 30, 2024 By 3 Comments

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

Thought we’d end the year with a RePrint post.

(spontaneous, not-necessarily-related reflection on the past Year here at the Wakefield Doctrine blog. we’ll get back to ya)

..(BONUS).personality types, (INSERT) insights into behavior (TODAY)and a little backstory (ONLY!)for good measure! the Wakefield Doctrine

January 30, 2012

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine ( the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers ).In a recent Video Friday Interview, when asked what changes or additions might improve the blog, Claire Peeksuggested  providing insight into the ‘why of the Wakefield Doctrine’. (As Claire put it  “…A new Reader might find interesting how the Doctrine was born but especially why….”  )

Far be it from us to shy away from a difficult task, in this case it is not so much a matter of the (historical) record of how the Wakefield Doctrine came to be, but rather the personal side of that creation/evolution/development. That is the challenge for today.

Easy part first!  The ‘Eureka Moment of the  Wakefield Doctrine ( nee the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers ):

In the early 1980’s, Scott (the progenitor scott) worked at a music store in Pawtucket. He was the main salesman and also ran the repair department (of the store), this included not only repairing musical instruments and equipment that he sold, but any equipment that might be in need of repair, including various types of tape recorders and other similar equipment.

One day I happened to stop by the store to visit scott while he worked. While there, a customer came into the store, went to the ‘repair department where scott and I were talking and presented to scott what was known as a  ‘duel cassette recorder’  (This device had the capacity to record two cassette cartridges at once and was most often used to copy the contents of one cassette to another cassette, what we would call today, making a back up. Among the controls on this ‘dubbing recorder’ were two of all the normal tape recorder controls: volume, treble and bass. Where it was different from a single cassette recorder was that it had a Master Volume control dial, which, as the name implies controlled the overall sound output of the device.) The recorder that the customer placed on the counter appeared to be new and had no signs of damage or abuse. (As the customer approached the counter, I stepped back and Scott looked up and said, ‘What can we do for you’?   The customer said to  Scott, “this thing is brand new, it worked for a couple of days, then it stopped working entirely, I can’t figure out what is wrong”.

Scott looked at the recorder briefly, without saying a word and then reached under the counter and brought out some (black) electrical tape, and tearing off a 2 inch piece of tape, taped over the Master Volume control (after returning the dial to it’s highest setting). After completing this, scott slid the device back over towards the customer and simply said, “ There, its all right now”

The customer asked to plug in the recorder, took a cassette from his pocket, tried the recorder, ran it through it’s paces; seeing that the broken tape recorder that he brought into the store now worked like new  thanked scott and walked out of the store without another word. A totally satisfied customer.

From my perspective the world shifted. For reasons not clear to this day, I not only saw what scott had seen (the nature of the equipment problem) but I saw that his solution implied a reality, a ‘context’ that was clearly different from the one that I assumed to be the same as everyone experienced.

That is the factual side of the creation of the Wakefield Doctrine. The personal side?

I had plenty of friends. Or more to the fact, I had a close circle of friends that I seemed to have acquired rather deliberately.  Sometimes, when I hear or read about people expressing anxiety about making new friends in a new school or a changed job, I will laugh to myself. I still find (in the fact of) my own comfort that this thing that real people seem to worry about, (i.e.making friends) is really so not difficult while at the same time/all the time, I feel so isolated from people in general. And the irony of this is not wasted on me! I accept now (as I did back then)  that this is just another aspect to the weird world that I inhabit.
In any event, back to the ‘personal side of the creation of the Wakefield Doctrine, I knew back then that I had two things I could count on: having a small circle of friends who ‘got me’ and living with a pervasive, never-ending sense of lacking something…  fitting in, being a part of, knowing what I was supposed to be doing in order to be like everyone else. Call it what you like, it is this certainty that ‘I am different from’ and  because ‘I am missing something’ that defines who I am and once I figure out what (or where) that missing thing is, I will no longer be different from everyone else.
I suspected then, (as I now know for certain) that the thing I needed to understand was right in front of me, but not having a clue as to what it was like, the only thing to do was try to watch everything.
Watching is not exactly synonymous with living, ( lol a joke for the clarks reading this) and so I would settle for watching as I knew that the life that I thought I was in was not really the ‘real life’ that everyone else seemed to be enjoying.
Finally, the moment described above, the scene in the music store. That I would make the leap from what I observed to what I knew, what I concluded (about reality and people) was nothing less than a total frickin gift… if I had a stronger rogerian aspect, I imagine I would go on at length about inspired insight, or serendipity but I do not have that strong a rogerian aspect. If the truth is not obvious, I have a strong (barely restrained) secondary scottian aspect. But that is a whole ‘nother Post.
So as the Lady once said, ‘that’s how it began’.

OK!!  Time to close the Post, unfortunately on  sad note…as I know that most of you already know,  Robert Hegyes passed away late last week. So we will close with the theme song to his, chef-d’œuvre

 

You looking for the Bonus Inset?  Right this way, yo. This is a clip from a Post written last July, very good explanation of the clark, scott roger thing!  We figured, hey this layout really needs shaking up, so lets do an overlay Title/new Content*

The Wakefield Doctrine has 3 personality type categories: clarks, scotts and rogers. You are mostly one (of these 3) but you still have the other 2 in background.
…and when we say personality types? what we mean is, “What kind of world do you walk out to every morning”?  Because this Doctrine is not about your likes and dislikes, favorite colors or foods, interests, hobbies, avocation or inspiration. It is about the nature of your reality.

Yes, you read that right. Reality. Each of the three types of personality in the Wakefield Doctrine experience a different reality. Nothing weird or earth-shakingly different. No crystals or herbs or inner vibrations required either. Just this:

  • clarks exist (in the world) as the perennial outsider. They are normal in every other respect, it’s just that they know that they don’t belong, they are not like other people. But, at the same time clarks are the quiet, creative, funny (except you have to really pay attention or you’ll miss their jokes), self-deprecating, hardworking people that are there all around you all this time;
  • scotts are so in your life (and you will get this description only if you are not a scott) but they are the natural leaders, natural salespeople, natural entertainers… you getting the theme here with this personality type? natural. scotts are the people who live life by the moment without restraint, consideration, forethought, it’s a wonder they live as long as they do
  • rogers (you know who you are, and right now you are denying it) rogers are the everyday, friendly, easy to talk to people that populate every workplace and classroom and corner bar. rogers will be the person you turn to when you have a secret and rogers will be the one you turn to when you want to learn the latest gossip, they are the engineers, the lawyers, the doctors and heart and soul of every PTA and neighborhood watch program in the world.

The Doctrine is different from all the other mainstream and respectable personality and self-improvement systems out there because we insist that it is not just you, it is the world itself that accounts for your life, it’s trials and tribulations, good times, bad times (we know you’ve had your share).
What sets us apart and the reason you should spend time here, is that the Wakefield Doctrine offers everyone a set of tools that is specifically meant for not only your personality type, but (these tools) are meant to work and be useful in the world that you are living in today!

*the ‘extra’ words in the Title today were supposed to look like they were ‘drawn’ over the original Title, you know…graffiti like   whatever

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Frieturday -the Wakefield Doctrine-

December 27, 2024 By 10 Comments

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

This is the Wakefield Doctrine’s contribution to ‘the Unicorn Challenge‘

A photo-prompt bloghop hosted by jenne and ceayr, it has the simplest of rules: keep it at (or under) 250 words.

 

“Half a pound, make that medium ground,

of that splendid, open-range rabbit.

And, what do you say, since it is a holiday,

two grilled squirrels-0n-a-stick.

One for here and one for home,

A puppy’s dream, for when Santa comes around.”

 

 

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Christmas -the Wakefield Doctrine-

December 25, 2024 By 7 Comments

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

 

…as little gift to ourselfs, this RePrint found as we searched for a holiday post yesterday, the Eve of Saint Christmas.

 

thank god that’s over! the Wakefield Doctrine (“it’s totally not true that clarks experience distress during major holidays…. bitch”)

December 25, 2013

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

zsswtr46

You know how I just got through writing how Christmas is such a clarklike holiday? And how we said that, because clarks are all kinds of self-less and giving and such, that we do Christmas better’n the other two, at least in the old-school sense of the word?  It’s true. clarks do totally rock the Christmas spirit. So, why the developing un-ease as the Day itself is upon us? (Many clarks report a sense of: tiredness, reduced excitement, blunted affect, irritability, anogasmia, a desire to take up smoking cigarettes just to have an excuse to step outside on the porch, and totally be willing to be the one to ‘drive to the store for a couple of items that are needed for Dinner’.)

If you feel that way today or expect to feel that way today*, then we have reassuring news for you. It’s them, it’s not you!

The Christmas Holiday, like so many of the other holidays, (and to be honest, like much of life itself), has a way of being commandeered by one (or both) of the other two personality types.

  1. scotts  so many people, so many presents, so many bright lights and things that move and show unmistakable signs of delicious life!  (picture if you will, a lion cub taken from the pack just a season before maturity. the cub has the instinctual and learned survival skills, practiced as much as is possible from a season of play with the other cubs. let the cub skip a few meals and then put him/her in an empty basement and after a day of pumping the aroma of a nice roast beef, take a bushel of hamsters and gerbils and dump them down the laundry chute.**  …Merry Christmas Simba!
  2. rogers  there are so many memories that need to be created…no time for frivolity!  don’t you see the scene?!?!  it’s a happy (and grateful), appreciative (and grateful) festive day full of (grateful) family members coming together to enjoy the holiday! so don’t fuck it up with your moodiness and oh-look-I-want-to-be-alone strangeness! this is a once in a year opportunity to come together in a joyous celebration of the family and tradition (well, then…do it outside, ok?)

We kid the rogers and scotts. No, we do!  But we love them as well (as we are able).  New Readers? Well, there are these three ways of experiencing the world and you do it one of the three ways. The Doctrine says that the nature of the way that you see the world is your personality type. OK?  We don’t need to know your likes and dislikes and pet peeves and such. All we need to do (notice we didn’t say, ‘need to know from you‘?) is correctly infer how you relate yourself to the world around you. After that everything else sorta takes care of itself. The three ways to ‘relate yourself to the world around you’ are:

  1. as an Outsider. from as far back as you can remember (and it’s pretty far back), you have looked at the people in your life and wondered  where you dropped the ball, what you missed learning about how to be the way they clearly are…together and, (from this early early time in your life), you have resolved to learn what they seem to already know, all while trying not to be identified as a person who was left out… Merry Christmas  clarks!
  2. as a Predator. you wonder why some people think, “oh what an unkind thing to say, calling that nice girl a Predator“, you don’t give it a second thought and you know why? (no, we know that you don’t know why, because you don’t give a shit about the why’s and the ‘oh-if-only-I-knew-more‘), because you are too busy living…living a life that is full of threats and opportunity, fun and danger, excitement and the occasional quiet moments of sleep, you know what you are… you’re alive!!!!  Merry Christmas  scotts
  3. as a Member of the Herd. and no, you don’t walk around thinking I am a Member of the Herd, we get that. What you do is live a life that is full of potential and hard work, enjoying some pleasures but only when earned, people all around you who you can help live a better life….a Right Way and a universe that was designed to be understood and shared with the future generations, both real and imagined… Merry Christmas rogers

New Readers? Still with us?  Good. So you have one of these as your predominant worldview, (the character of your personal reality), but you never lose the capacity to experience the world as do the other two. So don’t be surprised if you get confused at first seeing in yourself  one personality type and then at times another. That just means you have a significant secondary (or tertiary) aspect. Don’t worry about that now. This is the fun and carefree phase of learning the Wakefield Doctrine. The rest comes later.

To all the DownSprings and Friends of the Doctrine and Readers and such,  thank you for stopping by! Do have the best, dominant worldview-appropriate, day possible today.

 

clark
(a clark with (a) significant secondary scottian and minimal tertiary rogerian aspects)

 

*when it comes to emotional response, clarks see no reason to leave them to the last-minute! get ahead of that worry, that concern that fear!! don’t wait!  be prepared!!

** this is a feature in many old, old houses where the washing machine was in the cellar, an opening in the wall of the bathroom closet that was directly above the laundry area… go ahead and put a half full laundry basket for the gerbils to land in… give ’em a better shot at getting away

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Monday -the Wakefield Doctrine-

December 9, 2024 By

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

So, we were talking about the all too rare insights into the realities of the three predominant worldviews.

The three ‘personality types’ of the Doctrine are:

  1. clarks (Outsiders)
  2. scotts (Predators)
  3. rogers (Herd Members)

We, all of us, are born with the potential of all three, settle into one, (and only one), but retain a vestigial access to the ‘other two’. The basic mechanism/conceit underlying the Doctrine is simple: our personality type is but a reflection of the relationship we have with the world around us and the people who make it up. And the primary task we confront is to learn how to survive and thrive. At this time we’re taking our cues from our close-in world and discovering and developing strategies that allow us to continue to grow and mature, given the nature of the world we are in (Hint: there are three ‘natures/characters’).

Which is kinda cool when you think about it. Ain’t none of those lists of traits and tropisms, compensation of lost opportunities or twists imposed by greater, (and, all too often, inimical), forces in our worlds). Hell, no. We’re just trying to survive. So you might say, (which we very much do), that your personality type is perfect.

… (you knew there was gonna be a ‘dit-dit-dit’ admit it! lol)

We, all of us, according to the Wakefield Doctrine, have the exact right personality type, (here come the italics) given the nature of the personal reality we are existing in.

(can we get an Amen?)

anywho… we were going to talk about the deeper insights into the three personal realities of the Doctrine. (Which is to say, there’s a ton of descriptions and adjeverbs for the personal reality of: Outsiders (clarks), living in the semi-shadows, mumbling, poor posture, an affinity among some to decorate their heads and Predators (scotts), such as Tasmanian devils/devilettes, life-of-the-party, adrenalin addicts, really hawt and, Herd Members (rogers) who totally account for the benefits of modern tech, safety of most ingestibles and there being a Right Way and a wrong way, (not to mention, really, really neat, organized work benches)

Sure, that’s the fun of the Doctrine.

But there is more to the three worldviews than we can easily see from our perspective in only one of them.

That’s our next topic… but we’re out of time.

Stop by tomorrow.

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