Friday 25 May 2012

Reaching for the long knife

Look at it, it is hideous, a carbuncle in a canteen of cutlery, waiting to be caught up by some unsuspecting hand, invariably my hand. I prefer my knives .. hmm ... regular, uniform, never to outshine, out-cut, out-perform and especially not 'out-heighten' the other knives.

Where did it come from, this festering tool of eatery, this odious pustule of tableware?

We think it belongs to someone else who left it here, well can that someone else please own up and come and collect it NOW! Please!

So what is my particular problem with this particular knife? Intrinsically it is fine, in amongst its own kind it might be considered 'normal' but here it stands out as different because.. ahem it is different.

During my MBTI (Myers-Briggs) training I learnt that MBTI works on an understanding of a theory by Carl Jung that we are a psychological 'type' and we live our lives understanding and developing the aspects of who we are. This might be about how we make decisions, gather information, live in the external world or where we draw our energy from. The point is that when we choose to operate  one way there is a choice that we don't take, a way that we could use, and others use effectively, but we choose not to, most of the time.

I want you to stop reading and do something: cross your arms, now uncross them and cross them the other way. People usually describe the first way as: easy, normal, natural, comfortable and the second way as 'I had to think about it', unnatural, difficult, weird etc. The point is that both ways are acceptable and both ways are as good as each other, yet nearly always we will choose one way over the other, there is something innate that makes us choose acting one way over the other. The many 'short knives' in my canteen of cutlery represent the frequency with which I operate within my preference.

This 'preference' is true for most of the time, the reality is though that there are times when we do choose 'the long knife' and Jung says we often do this in a stressful, or difficult situation; when we are outside of our comfort zone and our normal mode of operation seems not be effective - his technical term is 'in the grip'. In the sea of usual responses something happens that jolts us into an 'atypical' reaction, the 'long knife', alien and awkward thrusts itself towards us and we grab it and wield it often immaturely and without precision.

Much of my training has been to allow me to understand myself, of course that 'long knife' in its 'home' canteen of cutlery would not stand out itself but would be quite normal for another, the issue, for me, is in its difference.

I am also aware that the 'long knife' can be used to do untold damage or to spread jam and clotted cream on a scone, the same knife.

       ... but I still hope somebody takes it away and puts it back where is should be!




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