Cesar Millan and MRE

I've always enjoyed Cesar Millan's show, Dog Whisperer and blogged about him recently.

Dave and I used the analogy of dogs to introduce the concept of different energies in the first chapter of the book. I hadn't encountered Cesar yet. Through his show, I've since learned that even though dogs indeed have different personalities that match well to MRE, their adherence to hierarchy is what is universal across the species and this is primarily where humans go wrong when interacting with them.

Cesar's show also demonstrates his implicit understanding of MRE when dealing with people, even though he is an Evangelist. He takes a very unique approach to each type when he encounters them. Relaters have the most trouble with dog psychology and he shows them that being a leader isn't mean, it's about giving the dog what it needs and therefore being the best Relater you can be. He teaches Mavens the concepts so it becomes an intellectual puzzle. Finally, Evangelists are perhaps the closest to dogs and intuitively understand them. Cesar teaches them to think and feel what is happening with the dog.

Cesar's deep empathy, both for humans and dogs helps him beautifully and effortlessly integrate the duality between the two species.

'Art', a play between Maven, Relater and Evangelist

Over the weekend I saw a City Theatre production of 'Art' and was struck that each of the 3 characters: Marc, Yvan and Serge are each a Maven, Relater and Evangelist. The story and the ensuing discussions about Serge's white painting become a commentary for how each of these core types see themselves and the world around them.

I didn't find myself caring much about any of the characters or the potential demise of their friendship. This seems to have a lot to do with the fact that we are mostly presented with the dark side of each of these energies. All the characters have reached the extreme dark side and basically stay there through the course of the play.