Pygmalion's Test

[AngelicAssassin]

The offer.

i came across the above post while passing through one evening, and it caught on an unknown rough spot in the teflon. i pm'd the author and asked for permission to quote it thank you shyybabe in a thread i hadn't yet organized in my mind. It's a month later and the spark still floats loosely in the nebula.

A quick search of a vaguely remembered reference to Pygmalion, both classical Greek click me, and English lit click me didn't coalesce that nebula into anything more manageable. The question always starts out "What if", but generally degenerates into multiple tangents thereafter. Then, the light bulb flickered. What better place for a Gordian Knot than here?

So, with zero restrictions on comments (other than encouragement to stretch a bit beyond normal PC conventions), "What if you had the opportunity to occupy your choice of creator/clay?"

 

[graceanne]

Are you asking if we could be whatever we wanted to be, what that would be?

 

[catalina_francisco]

I guess for much of it this is how our relationship works, and what sometimes causes the wrinkles in everyday bliss which need working out, talking out, accepting. I have on many occasions noticed and mentioned to him how I find myself a totally different person, at times barely recognisable from the me I have always known, and as a result of fulfilling his needs, fitting into his world in the way he needs, and being the one he wants. He still admires qualities in me which drew him to me in the first place, but slowly and often unseen, he has managed to mold into shape those parts of me he wants to emphasise as well as create some new ones. It is not always done covertly, often there are huge challenges and hurdles to survive before it becomes a reality, but quick and easy or slow and painful, it is his creation which wins through eventually, not my former self.

Catalina

 

[Netzach]

I am like the snotty Buonarotti and I say that there's nothing special I'm doing other than chipping away the places the rock is blocking the boynymph who's trapped in there.

 

[FurryFury]

What would I want to be molded into?

Physically I would want to have a lot harder and tighter body in general. I like my general shapes, height and weight. Clearly I am not willing to work hard enough to make it happen by myself. I've often wanted a partner for that.

Mentally I would like to have some of my emotional baggage destroyed once and for all. I want to live in the now more and relax! Otherwise I am quite content with what I have been made into by life. I've worked hard to get to where I am and I'm happy with the results.

I have no interest in molding others except my kids because that is my job.

So in their cases I would want to make someone fit of body, mind and emotion. First I want them comfortable with themselves. I don't care what they do professionally. I just want them to be able to take care of themselves and their things.

Fury

 

[nusubgurl]

I am like the snotty Buonarotti and I say that there's nothing special I'm doing other than chipping away the places the rock is blocking the boynymph who's trapped in there.

I love this answer and agree wholeheartedly...i do not wish to be other than i am...i just continue to chip away at all of that which is NOT me.

I could say i wish i was slimmer, younger, had teen aged knees, perfect vision, ungreyed hair...

But why would i want to do that?? All of my imperfection makes me...perfectly unique.

 

[temp256]

I wish I were a woman...

 

[shyybabe]

The offer.

i came across the above post while passing through one evening, and it caught on an unknown rough spot in the teflon. i pm'd the author and asked for permission to quote it thank you shyybabe in a thread i hadn't yet organized in my mind. It's a month later and the spark still floats loosely in the nebula.

You're very welcome. It was another in the seemingly endless discussions I have with myself on the "dominant" vs "domineering" personalities and why I seem to attract the latter.

The line that was missing from my original Lit post -

He walked away without putting any of my good pieces together.


Having been married for over a decade to the world's worst offender on making you feel lower than dirt, I'm attemtping to rebuild myself without the offending pieces he swore I had. A new me, from the ground up. Although it's a very slow process, it's working. I doubt he'd recognize the "me" I've become. Not quite the "six million dollar man" me, but definitely not the doormat he tried so damn hard to create.

 

[Betticus]

So, with zero restrictions on comments (other than encouragement to stretch a bit beyond normal PC conventions), "What if you had the opportunity to occupy your choice of creator/clay?"

If you could change yourself in such a way then who would you be when it is all done?

I feel that a huge part of just being alive is in meeting challenges and in succeeding. If you could change yourself on a whim then there would be no character building obstacles to overcome. You would never grow as a person.

From my perspective the only way to approach this particular subject would be to envision who you want to be and then to work on achieving that. You become your own creator, molding your own clay.

 

[Ms_Lilith]

Clay. Definitely.

I don't know, yet, enough about what I want, to make something to my perfection.


But I'd be very happy to be moulded properly by a loving creator.

 

[FurryFury]

Clay. Definitely.

I don't know, yet, enough about what I want, to make something to my perfection.


But I'd be very happy to be moulded properly by a loving creator.

That av looks damned close to perfection to me!

*grins*

Verrrry niiiice!

Fury

 

[graceanne]

The only thing I'd change about myself is my body (inside and out). I'd give myself a much faster metabolism, and I'd make my back straight. I'd fix my immune system, and make sure I wasn't allergic to anything. Other than that, well if I changed me I wouldn't BE me. Then I'd probably loose a lot of really good friends.

 

[AngelicAssassin]

Sometimes

it can be interesting to leave a thread wide open to see the responses. Netzi got close, but her answer is enigmatic as always. kittycat spoke for 'Cisco towards accepting the gift/challenge. Lilith answered plainly.

For those confused, given the choice (depending on your particular bent) to:

• create your Galatea
• be molded by your Pygmalion

would you take on the responsibility/allow yourself to be molded, or not?

 

[Recidiva]

I'd prefer to be molded by my Pygmalion.

I'm very picky about Pygmalions, though, and so most anybody else that tries to chip away at me, I'm busy fending them off.

The ones that can chip at me, do. The ones that mold me are the ones I can't stop.

The rest I fend off with pointy sticks and a sharp tongue.

 

[catalina_francisco]

kittycat spoke for 'Cisco

I did?!!

Catalina

 

[Netzach]

Not that enigmatic, art historical sorta.

Michelangelo claimed to simply be revealing the image trapped in the stone. The big mythos stuck with sculptors for centuries. It's nothing special I'm doing, I'm just divinely inspired and I see the thing in the stone that's waiting to emerge.

Point being made, I'm not interested in influencing just to influence and say I did.

 

[Marquis]

Not that enigmatic, art historical sorta.

Michelangelo claimed to simply be revealing the image trapped in the stone. The big mythos stuck with sculptors for centuries. It's nothing special I'm doing, I'm just divinely inspired and I see the thing in the stone that's waiting to emerge.

Point being made, I'm not interested in influencing just to influence and say I did.

Hold me.

 

[Netzach]

I like having gorgeous fans.

 

[Marquis]

It's funny, I used to be the smart guy.


Sometimes I think I'm a few crunches away from becoming a supermodel with a double-digit IQ. I will attract the finest females, who will then play me like a fiddle.

I would wish for a freak accident or something, but I have a bad habit of getting what I wish for.

 

[Recidiva]

It's funny, I used to be the smart guy.


Sometimes I think I'm a few crunches away from becoming a supermodel with a double-digit IQ. I will attract the finest females, who will then play me like a fiddle.

I would wish for a freak accident or something, but I have a bad habit of getting what I wish for.

It's okay. You're cute.

"You don't need money with a face like that, do ya honey?"

Back off Nezach, she's mine. She even said. Now I'm getting jealous. Must be the latent queen acting up.

 

[bridgeburner]

I'd definitely want to be the sculptor. Pleasing or disappointing myself I can handle. The pressure to be what someone else wants is soul-crushing.


-B

 

[La Kajira]

I'd prefer to be molded by my Pygmalion.

I'm very picky about Pygmalions, though, and so most anybody else that tries to chip away at me, I'm busy fending them off.

The ones that can chip at me, do. The ones that mold me are the ones I can't stop.

The rest I fend off with pointy sticks and a sharp tongue.

Ah, Recidiva, you took the words right out of my mouth.

Thanks for saying so eloquently what I would have fumbled through... huggles!

It's funny, I used to be the smart guy.


Sometimes I think I'm a few crunches away from becoming a supermodel with a double-digit IQ. I will attract the finest females, who will then play me like a fiddle.

I would wish for a freak accident or something, but I have a bad habit of getting what I wish for.

I think that is a shame, Marquis... it was not your looks that attracted me to you when I first joined, but your attitude and intelligence. I went through a couple really rotten boyfriends before I struck gold, simply because I adore attitude in a man above all else.

So long as he has that right attitude, I don't care what he looks like. My husband, thankfully, is a very attractive man. Shhhh... he's a fire fighter...

 

[Recidiva]

Ah, Recidiva, you took the words right out of my mouth.

Thanks for saying so eloquently what I would have fumbled through... huggles!

*flutters her lashes and sinks into a curtsey* A petticoat. I need a petticoat. Where's my fan?

 

[Marquis]

I think that is a shame, Marquis... it was not your looks that attracted me to you when I first joined, but your attitude and intelligence. I went through a couple really rotten boyfriends before I struck gold, simply because I adore attitude in a man above all else.

So long as he has that right attitude, I don't care what he looks like. My husband, thankfully, is a very attractive man. Shhhh... he's a fire fighter...

 

[CutieMouse]

I can say it's been an interesting enough year[ish] that I some days consider changing my name to Eliza.

It hasn't been so much a chipping away and redefining; it's more a belief in who I am in my soul and what I am capable of. It's been hard as hell. Somedays it continues to be hard as hell. It's been frustratingly slow [for both of us]. I am not sure the end result will be what either of us expected, but I am happy so far. I worry that I frustrate and dissapoint more often than not, but every time I've mentioned it he's been baffled by my concern.

I think more
I question more
I have purpose
I've decided I adore opera
I'm enjoying art and music again for the first time in decades
I'm excited about studying the ballet
I seek information and knowledge
I journal
I walk 5 miles a day
I've dropped 3 dress sizes
I'm slowing gaining control over my life
I'm happy
I love my job
I have hope
I feel stronger
I feel safe
I may finish my BA
I will be successful in Life
I am deeply in Love
I feel closer to complete than I ever have

I still have far to many rough spots- old chips and cracks from a former life that have left me with weak spots making relationships difficult. But I strive to go to sleep a better person than I woke up, I focus on Living instead of existing, and every day (with assistance) I polish things a bit more.