2004 September - Fiction and Non-fiction by Sherrie, Spring wedding for Michelle

 

From: Sherrie  (Original Message)

Sent: 18/09/2004 10:15 a.m.

Hi, family,         Just read the latest updates on family activities, and printed them off. Following Kingi on his skydiving journey would be a wonderful way to learn some geography! Rona, when you and Margret have digested the Starr report, maybe you could give an outsider's perspective to our crazy politics and make some sense of it all. Good luck, the challenge will be daunting! In our age of tabloid sensationalism, objectivity and facts have taken a back seat to emotionalism and arm-waving. Like the emporer in his new 'clothes,' much is spoken with very little being said. Even one of our presidential candidates is running a campaign based almost totally on 'charisma.' No plan have I heard of how to deal with any real issue or problem. His platform seems to hinge largely on the mere fact that he isn't the imcumbant!      I have just finished the insightful book 'Sons and Lovers' by D.H Lawrence. Maybe you've read it, about a poor family in England through the late 1800s/early 1900s and the struggle of the family to cope with life when father is a poor coal miner with tendencies to drunkenness, and to climb out of their poverty to better situations. The relationships are painted exquisitely, especially with regard to the interaction of personality types upon each other.      Paul is an artist (Kiersey would peg him an Artisan in personality type) and lives in the moment, a childhood friend Miriem is highly spiritual in her views (Kiersey's Idealist) and imparts religious significance into everything she sees. The struggle of their courtship boils down to her stifling his soul with unwanted shackles of higher meaning, when he just wants to relax in the moment and roll with the flow. Paul's mother can't stand Miriam, feeling she is after her son's very soul, his joyful and careless outlook on life, for she sees him become somber whenever the girl causes him to reflect inwardly. Miriam is so intensely devoted to Paul in her belief of their 'sacred' relationship that he pulls away in self-preservation, hurting her even while she 'rises above' it all waiting for his 'better self' to emerge victorious.      It was a fascinating tale to me, because I had read several books about the different personality types by Stephen Montgomery, based on David Kiersey's studies. He depicts the four basic temperaments as The Guardian, The Artisan, The Idealist and The Rational. Guardians and Artisans make up perhaps 90 percent of the population, and they are the concrete thinkers, whereas Idealists and Rationals make up the other ten percent or so and are primarily abstract thinkers. An idealist would be a dreamer whereas a rational would be more logical. A guardian would be a responsible salt-of-the-earth type and an artisan would be happy-go-lucky. We all have traces of the four types, yet one will usually dominate. When Rog and I took the test to see which types we were, I was solidly an Idealist, and he was very much a Guardian (although one who dreams a lot!) In Montgomery's books 'The Pygmalion Project -love and coercion among the types' he uses fiction to depict examples of different pairings of personalities in marriage. For example, in E.M. Forster's Howard's End, Mr Wilcox is a Guardian type married to Miss Schlagel's Idealist. By coincidence, that has been my favorite movie throughout the last ten years or so, and it happens to somewhat reflect the relationship dynamics in my own marriage.      But Lawrence's depiction of the Idealist was exquisitely painful to me for it's brutal accuracy. Since his story is autobiographical, he is able to really disassemble the idealist notions and fancies in the stark light of objective reality (through an Artisan's eyes.) The long-suffering Miriam refuses to alter her illusions by such unworthy trifles as facts as others see them. For she knows best, after all. While the stuff of life revolves around her she holds herself above and apart from it, so that the intimacy she craves eludes her. She wants only to find it in the safe sanctuary of her higher ideals. The effect is that she ends up isolated.      I find this stuff really fascinating, but can't expect the other 97 percent of the personality types to agree! Anyway, on to the next book. I'm nearly finished with some cheap and tawdry romance novels just for balance. And beginning next week I'll trade them all in for Algebra & Trig. Thanks for indulging my bit of psychobabble. Rog can write next about race cars, and get things back to normal.   Lots of love, Sherrie