The Blackberry Walk

Those who move at their own tempo are the ones who are lauded, the ones who are followed, the ones who lead. Maintaining your own meter whilst surrounded by powerful people is hard. We naturally synchronise with those around us: whether it be a celebrity who we admire and want to emulate or whoever else you're close with. Emulation is an inbuilt method of be grow close to another, after all. Love is all about becoming one, the eros as the ancient Greeks called it, and part of that is syncronising you frequencies together both on the psychological level and on the physical level. When you love someone, your heart rate syncs up with theirs. This condition is what some accept, becoming 'betas' or 'cucks', whilst others reject becoming 'contrarians'. Some however are immune to the psychic attack. Some are able to be true individuals who are able to project their soul upon the world and forge their own path, deaf to others influence. This is individuation. This is the high-minded autist. Joe from Ashita no Joe perfectly embodies this principle. Unshaken by societal norms or expectations placed upon him, he charges forth feeling what he truly feels and doing what he judges to be just. Joe can be kind of an asshole. Everyone around him thinks he's kind of an asshole. He's always bollocking people about, leaving on short notice, making a nuisance of himself. But that's why they love him. Truly love him. That's why he's able to emanate such passion into the world. He's authentic: a buzz world we all wish to be. Authenticity isn't something that can easily be described or something which can be methodically conquered, yet we all have an intuit recognition of what authenticity looks like. Joe the beast, is what he's often calls. A man running on instinct without the self-reflection which defines us as man instead of animal. Living his life freely how he sees fit whilst not letting others unconsciously influence what he sees fit. Joe is perfectly flawed. Lupin is another great example. A man who is unswayed by others opinion of him. A man who lives governed only by his own hand-knit ethic. Theft is his game, yet should a deeper story unfold, say whatever jewel he was stealing had a rightful owner from which is was unjustly taken, he will happily play the Robin Hood character. Lupin is Lupin. A taste as strong as game. He lives authentically and to the point. His vice of women and love, the only treasure which can't be stolen, is still his authentic ethic manifesting itself unbarred. Lupin is perfectly flawed. Charisma is everyone's dream. Everyone wants to be popular (within a sensible extent). No one want to be a beta. And personality is what everyone strives for. To call someone boring or a 'normie' (Futsu tte iu na as Nami-san from Zetsubou-sensei says) is the highest insult in today's society for personality is social credit. Yet our Germanic-Protestant-Scientific mindset wants a method. A rule book. A list of 10 easy steps from WikiHow. Yet for the highest goal of all, becoming of personality, there isn't one. My boy Jung gives an explanation and goal for personality, yet no simple and easy trick to solve it. There isn't one. Anyone who says there is is a fraud. Of course there are rules to help you navigate the currents but you've got figure out how you get there. Like diet, everyone has different needs. Upbringing, socioeconomic background, genetics: all of these and many more determine where you are, where you must go and how to get there. It is a journey of personal discovery. One which only reaches its climax in later life, unfortunately. A journey through the white water rapids without a map or any practice. Yet with every capsize we stray closer to our goal. Ever circling our destination (the circambulation of the self, as Jung calls it) without realising a thing. For some, charisma appears to be baked into them. "They were born with it", you convince yourself. No. It's a skill. Trial and error. Every mistake takes you closer to your goal. Only those who wallow in self-pity are the true betas for they can never succeed. Pull yourself up. Achieve something. Tatte. Tatte. Tatte. Tatsunda, Joe.