Considering that, it was all downhill from there relative to what exactly I was interested in searching for anti-climatically. Hence, over time. it became much less of a search and more of the same thing on repeat 'till eventually, I realized my frenzied pursuit was drawing to a close (having circled back to where I'd started a number of times).
I believe many men have an archetype that embodies their ideal sexual standard, and taking this truth into account, so much of our western entertainment / infamy culture is fueled therein. So much so, in fact, that I believe celebrities are oftentimes that much more in demand for film / TV programming based on their success in striking / embodying those individual ideals. That is - via characterization -it's a painting with as broad a consumer-friendly / capturing brush as possible.
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So what is an archetype?
It is not a fetish. A fetish is much too arbitrary an itch compared to an archetype. Instead, an archetype represents the ideal. It's a laser-focused embodiment of being perfectly suited, so to speak.
Why is identifying one's archetype important (if you have one)?
I believe it serves you well from the standpoint of knowing fully how your own head (on your shoulders) operates.
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This past Friday evening, I had my second meeting with a newish (to me but not to him) SS friend. This "part two" was his time to wrap up sharing with me a narrative of sorts that he'd compiled (handwritten) over the past few months. The notebook that he'd chronicled within was a sadness / joy compilation featuring countless individuals that had been within his sphere of influence throughout his +/-30 year lifespan. The point of this exercise was for him to categorically and systematically look hard at every single personal influence that he'd encountered throughout his life from the standpoint of being both helpful (joy) and hurtful (trauma). And my goodness, did he ever do a stellar job! I learned so much about him and his life (as well as my own). It truly was a once in a lifetime experience for me.
A sizable portion of our discussion last Friday evening centered around archetypes and the pull / influence they have over us. Subsequently, what grew out of that conversation was discovering that for my friend, his archetype actually was made known to him in real life by way of a former girlfriend. This was uncanny to me, having only met my own via Internet porn alone.
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Back to my former question, but phrased a little differently. What brandishes value in studying / paying homage to one's archetype?
Let me introduce you to St. Martin in the Fields Church.
This church is in London and was constructed in the early 1700s. The architect was Mr. James Gibbs. To put this church into historical perspective, the original colonies were still far from declaring their independence when this was designed / built, and the church itself was sited "out in the country" at the time relative to the city proper.
What makes it significant is its service as the archetype for countless protestant church buildings around the world over the past 300 years. For us Americans, we've seen the basics of this design an awful lot, and the reason for that is as follows: To the western world the design of St. Martin in the Fields absolutely, positively, and so effectively says CHURCH. Plus, it's easily site adapted and relatively inexpensive to construct.
What set this ecclesiastical design trend in motion all those years ago? Whom decided to dub St. Martin's in the Fields as such?
Now, whilst attempting to answer that question, keep in mind that until this building was designed by Mr. Gibbs and subsequently constructed, none other existed that was quite exactly like this one. And regarding Mr. Gibbs, do you think he set out to design a church building that would become an archetype which may just actually carry forward 'till Jesus' second coming?
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A young friend of mine shared with me a time in his vocational life when he found himself "in the zone" (his words). He described this experience as unique to his role at his work, but finding himself there, given the opportunity, he excelled tremendously. (Just to give you a little more specific minutiae, he found himself hitting a homerun within a very reputable comrade-based speaking event).
Now, the question comes down to this. Could my young friend have entered into his "zone" had he made that same speech to an empty auditorium? In other words, do or can archetypes or archetypical experiences exist / come to fruition within a vacuum?
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Now, let's circle back to my new friend whom I visited with over the past few Friday evenings. You'll recall I mentioned earlier that he'd essentially dated his archetype at one point in time.
Here's me seguing into my commentary (hold onto something):
I'm convinced that archetypes exist / come to fruition only in light of their ability to expertly meet real-time needs, therefore there's a dynamic exchange that plays out inevitably between us and them. That exchange promotes understanding or aliveness that's situated squarely within the relationship between the need(s) and the solution, and it's that aliveness within us that in turn promotes them to top dog status (within our mind).
Another one of those humanity traits (I mentioned adaptability prior) is our criticality. We rank constantly - our looks, other's looks, our pay, other's pay, our abodes, other's abodes, our spouses, other's spouses. And from there, we rank our day, our mood, and on and on. It's a mainstay of being human, and it speaks to our fallen nature, but primarily the fallen nature of the world around us.
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Archetypes, if and when they're acknowledged, offer us an opportunity. That being to understand our own needs, desires, internal makeup by reverse engineering.
And that understanding, I believe, can even begin to equate to the aliveness that we experienced firstly via that initial encounter with said archetype.
There is so much longstanding richness and value if we're willing to do that good but rigorous work.
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