We propose that these festivals are held not just for the release of frustration, but also as venues for experiencing something different and envisioning an alternative reality. While some social commentators suggest that a feast of fools is just a conservative vehicle for “blowing off steam’, I believe that they point to a much more constructive purpose. The festivals provide something similar to what is offered by sanctuaries. Sanctuaries are not just for forgiveness and restoration, but also for learning of something new. Similarly, festivals are not just for letting loose, but also for testing out new ways of being while in this loosening state. There is a collective regression that truly is in the service of several collective ego-functions such as increased shared consciousness, and testing and experimenting with new ideas,
As Carl Jung has suggested, these temporary celebrative events enable all aspects of self to be engaged. The “shadow” function of the human psyche is brought to the fore and is allowed to interact playfully with the more public and usually quite rigid functions (“persona’) of the human psyche. Jung would also draw an important connection between these festive events (as well as fantasies) and the dreams we have during the night (or even the daydreams we have during the day. From a Jungian perspective, we might even identify these temporary events as “dream states” which yield valuable insights arising from unconscious processes.
Regular Public Events
There is another type of temporary system to be acknowledged. This is the scheduled public event that takes place at a specific time and in a specific location. However, like festivals, these events take people out of their normal routine and create conditions for regression in the service of the ego – or at least in service of profit or pride. While we might wish that these events (like the festivals) would go on forever, they are compelling precisely because they occur occasionally and come with considerable preparation –and often substantial promotion and publicity. One of these public events is the “game.” Sporting events of many kinds are to be found in abundance throughout the world. Humankind is not only aptly called homo ludens because of a desire to play games, but also because of a desire to observe others playing games.
Conclusions
Matthew Miles notes that temporary systems serve a variety of functions, including compensation and maintenance (games, vocation), short term accomplishment (task force, research project), induction of change (conference, psychotherapy), re-education (socio-drama, human relations training), and education (school, utopia). This wide range of activities and functions are subsumed by Miles under the category temporary systems because he wishes to identify several characteristics that are common to many, if not all, of these systems. We would suggest that many of these functions provide a container for VUCA-Plus anxiety and a source of learning for addressing VUCA-Plus challenges. Each of these temporary systems often provide an opportunity for exploring alternative responses for the challenges inherent in each VUCA-Plus element.
According to Miles, the distinctive input and process characteristics of temporary systems tend to yield certain distinctive outputs. He mentions changes in persons, relationships and actions. Personal changes that are produced in temporary systems often yield relatively permanent shifts in attitudes, knowledge or behavior. Relationships also tend to be altered as a result of experiences in temporary systems. People ‘can’t go home again’ after powerful, penetrating temporary system experiences. Their goals and perceptions have been reframed. At a tactical level, the skill of designing practice actions for someone to test-drive or solidify new desirable behaviors can be engaged in a temporary system. In this setting one can pilot new attitudes, new language, new behaviors, and then evaluate their effectiveness in moving them towards their desired goal.
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