Hi all - sorry, I've been very engaged with the discussion on rank... I'd like to offer some words from Jonathan Kay an English fool and teacher which i think are relevant to the discusion:
"In workshops I am asking people to go to a metaphorical heart. A metaphorical centre, which is usually dictated over by a dictator, who doesn't enable the fool to arrive. But the fool is the thing which the king or queen will eventually hear about - he's knocking about in the pubs or whatever - and eventually he'll be invited into the court. And the fool will make the court alive, because up to that point it's full of dryness" (p.36) "The fool is walking around and there will be something about the fool that the dictator cannot avoid. Which is that the fool loves them. And that is someting that the dictator does not understand. So will want to banish it. For the fool is unrepresented in any hierarchy yet is represented in every heart. Which is why the fool can talk with everyone. because the fool talks to the fool in each person. Wheras the dictator talks to the dictator in each person." (p43) (quoted in Chris Johnston: House of games: Making Theatre from Everyday Life: Nick Hern Books/Routledge 1998) Midi - because I'm on the other string too it's interesting to see you reflecting on your role here - feels right to me because it gives a distance... I don't wany to comment here but to leave it to others who are perhaps not involved in the other discussion. love Franc on 22/11/02 8:47 pm, Midi Berry at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > on 11/22/02 10:57 AM, liesbeth gerritsen at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> Hi All, >> Thanks, Ada, for the question and others for their thoughts in the past few >> weeks. When I reflected on my subversive part I found something that is >> like a dictator who is exacting and knows better than others what should >> happen and orders people around. I think this part's self-assuredness >> comes out to mask the one in me who does not feel up to the task, who >> struggles to keep up with the discussion but who wants to be noticed >> anyway. This part feels it wants to fit in but doesn't know how to build >> relationships with others. Knowing this as a facilitator, I might want to >> bring out the parts of myself that are different and weird and awkward. >> Oh boy, that sounds freaky and terrifying. >> >> Looking forward to hearing from others. Liesbeth > > Hi Ada, Liesbeth, Julie, everyone > > i identify myself in the moment as playing a micro-part in a collective role > in the process work field on another string that might well be perceived as > subversive, for it is seeking to challenge what it sees as an established > community 'order'/belief system. > > Inside this role I find myself struggling all the time to try and stay awake > to the extent to which i am projecting outwards on the collective what is > also an internal process. I also struggle with wanting to say things in a > way that will not create unnecessary personal pain for others. There is a > belief system in here which says that I have to 'always do it right and > caringly' > > I experience my act of speaking up in the collective as a way of challenging > my own established 'order'/belief system and thus being a part of the change > i want to happen. In me that system has been kept in place by a voice which > says something like: > > 'things will never change' > 'keep quiet and don't make waves' > 'your reality does not matter and should not be voiced' > 'you will be killed for telling your truth' > 'it's not worth the effort' > 'tell your truth and your relationships will suffer' > 'don't speak at all until and unless you can be sure to take care of > everyone's feelings' > > i notice myself 'hoping against hope' that this role I am identified with > can be occupied and filled out by many others so that its power and > intensity can be shared, so that any part of it that has been spoken of by > others 'behind closed doors' can also come out in the open and be heard seen > and valued and unfolded by all in the field. > > like Liesbeth i do not feel up to the task. Unlike Liesbeth I would actually > love to find a way to do the same job without being noticed. And if that is > impossible I would like to find a 'noticeable' way to do it that is fun. > > I notice myself also hoping that those who i perceive from my onesidedness > as being 'on another side' and 'mainstream members of the established order' > will also speak to their position so that different roles can interact in a > way which becomes creative and constructive and opens us all to a healthier > whole. > > what do i need from someone wanting to facilitate in this role? > > Hmm, well what i would like would be acknowledgement that the role exists > and is 'real', 'that it is both more than me and also i am more than it', > that it is hard work and difficult to bring in what i feel as a marginalized > and disturbing viewpoint and that it is in some part a reflection of us all. > > My bottom line today is i do not want to go on being identified and > remaining stuck with the role with which i presently one-sidedly identify > myself. > > so it would feel great if others could help me detach, ideally by taking > over the role and/or offering other positions in the field with which i can > also identify :-) > > love > midi > >
