Self-Exploration
By my artifice
I bring forth a work of Man:
Myself, unfolding.
Among those who know me, I am known for -- among other things -- using terminology from RPGs, especially that oft-maligned concept of 'Alignment', to describe events and personalities encountered in other aspects of life. The joke, among those who know us, is that I'm the 'Lawful' in the family, and my wife is the 'Chaotic'. Like most such over-simplified statements, it cannot be completely true, but I do think there are some elements of truth in it.
However, I was considering the ramifications of this one day in the context of personal growth and change. 'Lawful-types' are generally perceived as more resistant to change and less likely to change frequently. Did this mean I was resistant to personal growth? Am I unknowingly cutting myself off from more of the human condition and opportunities than I am aware of? Or than I would wish to?
The image (or metaphor) I developed in response to this question was meaningful to me, so I present it here (in lieu of anything more interesting to others since, overall, life's been pretty good recently). Feel free to comment if you like.
It seems to me that the persona of a Lawful starts with the precepts, rules and guiding principles they internalize and seek to apply in their lives. These form a sort of 'skeleton', or structure, over the top of which is laid the rest of the substance of the human condition (no mortal being is perfectly Lawful). In general, a Lawful person focuses on this skeleton, and tends to be somewhat unconcerned about the external appearance (the 'facade', or 'paint job') of their persona. It also means that, if they perceive a need for change, because of exposure to some circumstance or consideration for which their existing structure is unsuited, they have to go 'inside' -- they shorten something, or lengthen an element of the structure. Possibly add a new branch or a buttress. But, as they do, they focus on the structure, caring little for the (to them) secondary impact to the 'facade'. And, of course, some changes end up being much more noticeable than others. The Law of Unintended Consequences certainly applies here, with a vengeance.
Chaotics, on the other hand, perceive themselves as much more fluid. It seems to me they live live more like sculptors in ice, or butter. Based on their environment of the moment, they trim away, or add, from the surface -- according to what they expect will be most successful or aesthetically pleasing, confident that, when circumstances shift, it will be easy to adjust their outer facade to match the new situation. The most interesting realization, for me, was that as they do this, they are having an effect on their internal 'skeletons' in much the same way that the Lawful's skeletal alterations affect their facade. (Again, with the Law of Unintended Consequences in full force.) Both personality types experience both internal and surface change (and hopefully growth), but they go about it in different ways, reaching different individual solutions to a common set of puzzles.
(Neutrals, or course, are what's left over after you've sifted out the extremes. They probably do some of each, according to some individualized scheme, sharing in the strengths and weaknesses of each approach according to their personal mix. But, because they are conceptually defined only as the 'left-overs', they provide little philosophic insight in their own right.)
Anyway, the metaphor answered for me an important question about how 'Lawfuls' and 'Chaotics' can be so very different in some ways, yet both participate similarly in the common Human process of personal growth, using a shared mechanism. (Which was important, since after all, fundamentally we are all still Human.)
Just something that made me go "Hmmmm."
I bring forth a work of Man:
Myself, unfolding.
Among those who know me, I am known for -- among other things -- using terminology from RPGs, especially that oft-maligned concept of 'Alignment', to describe events and personalities encountered in other aspects of life. The joke, among those who know us, is that I'm the 'Lawful' in the family, and my wife is the 'Chaotic'. Like most such over-simplified statements, it cannot be completely true, but I do think there are some elements of truth in it.
However, I was considering the ramifications of this one day in the context of personal growth and change. 'Lawful-types' are generally perceived as more resistant to change and less likely to change frequently. Did this mean I was resistant to personal growth? Am I unknowingly cutting myself off from more of the human condition and opportunities than I am aware of? Or than I would wish to?
The image (or metaphor) I developed in response to this question was meaningful to me, so I present it here (in lieu of anything more interesting to others since, overall, life's been pretty good recently). Feel free to comment if you like.
It seems to me that the persona of a Lawful starts with the precepts, rules and guiding principles they internalize and seek to apply in their lives. These form a sort of 'skeleton', or structure, over the top of which is laid the rest of the substance of the human condition (no mortal being is perfectly Lawful). In general, a Lawful person focuses on this skeleton, and tends to be somewhat unconcerned about the external appearance (the 'facade', or 'paint job') of their persona. It also means that, if they perceive a need for change, because of exposure to some circumstance or consideration for which their existing structure is unsuited, they have to go 'inside' -- they shorten something, or lengthen an element of the structure. Possibly add a new branch or a buttress. But, as they do, they focus on the structure, caring little for the (to them) secondary impact to the 'facade'. And, of course, some changes end up being much more noticeable than others. The Law of Unintended Consequences certainly applies here, with a vengeance.
Chaotics, on the other hand, perceive themselves as much more fluid. It seems to me they live live more like sculptors in ice, or butter. Based on their environment of the moment, they trim away, or add, from the surface -- according to what they expect will be most successful or aesthetically pleasing, confident that, when circumstances shift, it will be easy to adjust their outer facade to match the new situation. The most interesting realization, for me, was that as they do this, they are having an effect on their internal 'skeletons' in much the same way that the Lawful's skeletal alterations affect their facade. (Again, with the Law of Unintended Consequences in full force.) Both personality types experience both internal and surface change (and hopefully growth), but they go about it in different ways, reaching different individual solutions to a common set of puzzles.
(Neutrals, or course, are what's left over after you've sifted out the extremes. They probably do some of each, according to some individualized scheme, sharing in the strengths and weaknesses of each approach according to their personal mix. But, because they are conceptually defined only as the 'left-overs', they provide little philosophic insight in their own right.)
Anyway, the metaphor answered for me an important question about how 'Lawfuls' and 'Chaotics' can be so very different in some ways, yet both participate similarly in the common Human process of personal growth, using a shared mechanism. (Which was important, since after all, fundamentally we are all still Human.)
Just something that made me go "Hmmmm."