6:32 a.m. - 2010-12-10
Gooooooood Morning! (I had \"Morgen\" written there at first...)
Looks to be an easier day, all told. I did call a meeting for exactly in the middle of the day, which in retrospect was somewhat thoughtless of me. I did offer alternatives, but it seemed acceptable to most. Eh...

SO. I sense a disturbance in the Force. I hear what sounds to be pre-concern about what is going to happen to the Border Collie.

The Border Collie is not going anywhere, even though it might be a good idea to trade it in for an English Shepherd. (Odd, that breed, as it is not English at all...so I am told...) We cannot that radically change who we are. I put a comment on the last entry and then I thought that it might be a good thing to address here. In parallel, because apparently I cannot explain a thing directly.

A Border Collie is quite an intense herder. If you've ever seen them work, and watched their gaze/stare, you'll understand completely. If you've ever spent some hours in their company, you will completely understand when someone mentions that Border Collies are bred to be obsessive. Mr. Dog's best mate is Border Collie, and he would have to ramp down several times in order to merely get down to obsessive.

In some sitches, that is exactly what you want. Herding, for example. You can let a Border Collie take care of your stock and make certain that they do not stray. Especially if your stock are fractious and wander-prone. Or if you have some renegades that love a good break for freedom. However, if you've been to competitions on a lesser than national champion level, you'll see that some Border Collies make things difficult for themselves with their micromanaging styles. A lot of over corrections get made, because over reactions happen by the sheep. Sheep are somewhat placid, but even a sheep can rebel against micromanagement.

If you've become a fan of the Border Collie, sometime you might bring one home to join the family as a pet. Which is fine, but a Border Collie is a being who needs a clear career plan. A Border Collie will read their job description over and over, and make refinements and additions constantly. And if a Border Collie has no clear career plan, said and aforementioned Border Collie will come up with one of their own. (Even Mr. Dog, who is an English Shepherd, will do this, but on a much lower level of intensity, unless he is feeling stressed...) You might come home one day to find your recycling refiled, your beds stripped, your cat treed, your chair legs shortened, well, the list is endless.

An undirected Border Collie can be far too micromanaging, or in the opposite direction, become destructive. Neither of these places are good places for a Border Collie to be. A Border Collie needs a clear view of where to go, and a firm plan of how to get there. And plenty of amusement.

My Inner Border Collie has become too controlling and somewhat destructive. This is not where I want to go. How can I ask people for things that I need if I won't let them do anything? Specifically Ned. I, in a blinding flash of clarity, suddenly understood that I was keeping Ned from drawing closer to me, but I desperately needed that closeness. To feel lonely in a marriage is a special form of Hell, I think.

Putting the Inner Border Collie in a downstay may sound worrisome to some, but really, it gives the Inner Border Collie a chance to be still and to observe the Metaphorical Sheep, and the Metaphorical Pasture. Where in this pasture is the Border Collie required to bring the sheep? Where and when is the Border Collie required to back off and let the sheep be sheep? These are things that the Border Collie really needs to think about, rather than be an instinctively running machine.

In bringing down the overintensity of the Inner Border Collie, the Inner Border Collie can effectively become more of a Border Collie and less of a neurotic ball of nerves and fur.

This is my parallel response. I am much better at explaining things if I don't have to say them directly.

One of you kind people mentioned that I am a "good person" which is a very nice thing to say. However, I don't consider myself good or nice in the slightest. I am a strong and fairly fair-minded person, but being "good" has never been one of my priorities. I have vices galore and a lack of discipline that would shock a slacker. But I get along, and I make changes. I am not nice. I will do the right things, and the difficult things that no one else wants to do, but being nice or good has nothing to do with it. In fact, I am one of the least "good" people that I know. I am all right with that, though, as I see many of the "good" fail through that very goodness, which is often weakness, cleverly disguised as good. Thank you for what I feel is meant as a compliment, though. I appreciate the place from where it came.

Right then, time to march off to Orkplace! Happy Day, everyone!

Cavalry - Apache