{"id":586,"date":"2015-06-08T23:30:37","date_gmt":"2015-06-09T05:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/council-of-fools.com\/blog\/?p=586"},"modified":"2019-02-07T12:18:48","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T18:18:48","slug":"white-balance-avatars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/council-of-fools.com\/blog\/white-balance-avatars\/","title":{"rendered":"White Balance Avatars"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I had this article sitting on my computer that I had originally written to work with someone who was doing some great work helping people to find themselves. That partnership dissolved and I realized this piece never got used so I thought I\u2019d put it out there for people to consider. If this musing\u00a0speaks to you as a useful introspective tool then please use it. I feel like there is a great therapy game mechanic in here somewhere but haven’t yet extracted the essential ichor to make it.<\/p>\n

It came from this article <\/a>I read on bullying a while back. After reading it I got this experience\/understanding of the idea of how we have this system within that helps us to survive the ongoing ordeals of our life. It does so by adjusting us on a low level to create a version of us that can withstand the ordeal.<\/p>\n

This transformation doesn\u2019t remove the pain, but it does seem to set new margin markers to detail what is tolerable. This is akin (in my strange mind) to the idea of \u201cWhite Balancing\u201d with a camera. Depending on the intensity and color of light in a location, what we see as white changes. So to get proper white in an image you need to take a picture of a white board in that light and keep adjusting settings until white things show up correctly as white. (That’s the poor man’s version. It’s a lot more complicated than that. A better break down can be found here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s wonderful because it allows us to endure by helping us to mitigate our extreme reactions. It\u2019s a trap however because it sets a new base line for us to operate in and we can get comfortable with that baseline.<\/p>\n

This makes me think of a couple things. The first is transformational superheroes, the second is how champions that step in for us can become as much of a problem because of the dependencies they create.\"Captainmarvel\"<\/p>\n

There is a character in DC comics called Captain Marvel<\/a> (one of my favorite characters) that I feel embodies this idea. Captain Marvel is really a young boy by the name of Billy Batson who is homeless or an orphan in an orphanage depending on the version of the story. He\u2019s on really hard times and regularly the target of bullies. While fleeing from bullies (in the most recent versions) he finds he is chosen by an elder\/ghost\/wizard to be the person who connects with the Divine to be a champion. All he needs do is invoke the word SHAZAM which represents certain traits:<\/p>\n

Wisdom of S<\/b>olomon<\/p>\n

Strength of H<\/b>ercules<\/p>\n

Stamina of A<\/b>tlas<\/p>\n

Power of Z<\/b>eus<\/p>\n

Courage of A<\/b>chilles<\/p>\n

Speed of M<\/b>ercury<\/p>\n

After saying the word he\u2019s hit by a bolt of lightning which gives him a new body in the form of the fully grown adult magical being known as Captain Marvel. While he has this body he still is preteen Billy inside mentally and emotionally<\/p>\n

This has interesting side effects.<\/p>\n

Billy is now impervious to harm from what would have harmed him before and now can endure soo much more.<\/p>\n

Anyone looking at him sees an incredible adult male who appears to be about mid 30\u2019s<\/p>\n

He is able to make profound changes in his world.<\/p>\n

People who encounter him don\u2019t quite know how to build relationships with him because, while appearing to be an adult, his worldview is quite juvenile (though some women rather seem to enjoy this aspect).<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not quite sure how to relate to people since adult reactions are expected because of his shell but he doesn\u2019t always have the emotional capacity to follow through. (He\u2019s still like 12 or 13 inside).<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got no grasp of physical intimacy (it actually frightens him a bit).<\/p>\n

He stays being Capt Marvel for longer and longer time periods but this seems to have the side effect of slowing down his real aging and associated personal growth. Basically being able to be Capt. Marvel keeps him a 13 year old boy (or however old he is these days).<\/p>\n

It also makes him take on things beyond what Billy should be able to deal with which is trouble when, for some reason, the Capt. Marvel manifestation fades and he is left in a terrible situation as a real 13 year old boy.<\/p>\n

Though it has drawback, Capt. Marvel is a role that he can assume to get through hard times. The big problem is once he got access to Capt. Marvel he tended only to be able to see the problems that only Capt. Marvel could handle.<\/p>\n

I think we all deal with these struggles. We all have our own crucible. It\u2019s good to become mindful of what effects our struggle, and the crucible they happen in, has on us and what effect we have on them.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an exercise to get you thinking about it all.<\/p>\n

As you have struggled through your own crucible what heroes and villains did you create for yourself to project into that gave you\u00a0access to tools and experiences that you\u00a0wouldn\u2019t have otherwise had access to? This is the thing that others may sometimes perceive and felt provoked to say things like \u201cyou\u2019re not yourself\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t know who you are anymore.\u201d It was running the show and you weren’t even aware because you didn’t know how to limit and perceive it.<\/p>\n

Think about which of these avatars you found so comfortable that they became synonymous with your being then do the following things.<\/p>\n