Erich Stauffer

Tag: LOST

  • LOST: From James Ford to Sawyer

    One of the easiest mysteries to solve on the pilot episode of LOST, was the question as to who would be “the bad guy” or “the outsider” in the group.  Josh Holloway‘s brooding looks and sneers of disgust when asked to help made it clear to the audience, that this guy, “Sawyer”, was not going to win any congeniality awards.  Whether it was his dimples, his sense of humor, or women’s tendency to be attracted to bad boys, the audience began to root for Sawyer.  Even fellow actor Jorge Reyes’ mother was more worried about Sawyer being killed off of the show than her own son.  Whether we loved to hate him, or loved him in spite of his shortcomings, he was loved.  Now, about those shortcomings….

    His name isn’t really “Sawyer”.  Through flashback, we learn that Sawyer’s parents died when he was just a boy.  His father shot his mother in the next room, and then horrifically, shot himself on a bed that the young boy was hiding under.  In a way we do not yet know, the boy found out who was responsible for scamming his parents out of their savings, leading to the murder/suicide of his parents.  This man went by the alias, “Sawyer”.  Our island survivor’s real name was James Ford.  Little James Ford thought of little else than finding the man responsible, and doling out justice for the loss of his parents.  Writing a letter to read to Sawyer just before killing him, James Ford was focused on revenge.

    Now, even as a young boy, James Ford could identify that what had happened to his family was wrong.  While Sawyer had not pulled the trigger, his scamming left the blood on his hands.  Why oh why, did James Ford end up growing up to become just like him?  Not just in taking his name, but in taking up scamming people out of their savings, just like the man he had hated for most of his life.  The simple answer may refer to a principle of cognitive psychology:  We move towards, and become like, that which we think about.  Our thoughts, whether they are lifting something up or tearing it down, get imprinted into our subconscious.

    This is also similar to Jack not wanting to become an alcoholic like his father, and by thinking so much about it, brought it into reality.  Mr. Eko’s thoughts of his brother as a priest eventually led him to become a legitimate man of God.  There are many elements of LOST that testify to this truth.

    As James Ford becomes Sawyer, he doesn’t even believe that he has any choice to be anything else.  “A tiger doesn’t change it’s stripes.” he tells Kate after a scheme to take all of the guns in the camp has commenced.  Only after he has killed the real Sawyer, and completed his task, is he free to let his thoughts move on.  The island gives him an opportunity to be a man of love and a man of leadership.  This new goal changes his thought patterns, and his behavior follows.

    What are you thinking about most of the time?  Do you see your actions as a result of your thought patterns?  Changing your life is as simple as changing your mind, but changing your mind takes the right kind of fuel.  Garbage in, garbage out.  What are you reading?  Who are you talking with?  What do you talk about?  If you are fixated on what you despise or hate…. be careful.  You just may turn into that same thing.

  • LOST: The Evolution of Jack Shephard: Part 2

    From a “Man of Science” to a “Man of Faith”, Jack Shephard has ridden the pendulum for a full turn.  After competing the greatest task of his life, leading the survivors of Flight 815 to rescue, he is a man without an identity.  No longer do people look to him for his potential, they just look to him and define him by his past.  By what he has done.  By what did happen to him.  Having his identity tied up in his actions lead him to question what he had left to live for in the future, much less… the present.

    But then, a strange thing happens… he starts to think differently.  Jack wonders about Locke’s claims of destiny and providence.  He wonders if he has not mistakenly taken himself off course of a path that is much bigger than him.  Jack’s identity begins to change.  With no hope for his currently life, he changes directions, and begins to follow the opportunities laid in front of him.  Sometimes it is with passion and purpose, and other times he is simply resigned to let fate run its course.  It is nearly 180 degrees different from the Jack we first met who would barely even sleep if there was work to be done around him.

    So, as season 5 ended recently, and with only the final season remaining, where is Jack left to go?  Will he find balance somewhere in the middle?  Is it possible to be bound by fate, and still control your destiny with managing your own actions?  Will Jack ever find the answer to having a sustained, happy life?

  • LOST: The evolution of Jack Shephard part 1

    We all know that life imitates art and art imitates life.  I am fascinated by almost all of the characters on LOST, but for me, the most complicated and interesting survivor of Flight 815 is Jack Shephard.  My spell checker tells me that this is not the correct way to spell “shepherd”.  Perhaps the creators of lost intentionally wanted “hard” to be a part of his name.  After nearly five seasons of the story unfolding, we have seen many times where Jack experiences something…. “hard”.

    The linear storyline that begins at the plane crash paints Jack as a hero and a leader right away.  Someone who takes charge and makes decisions.  A man of action.  (On a side note, it’s an interesting play on words of our site here:  man + aging + actions.)  Nobody takes a vote, but Jack is obviously the de facto leader.

    Through flashbacks, we learn how Jack has become a successful spinal surgeon.  By watching and shadowing his father, he takes on what he believes is valuable in his father, while trying to reject his father’s “weaknesses”, namely alcoholism.  Jack has a very systematic approach to growth and life.  Everything is fixable.  He sees the pieces that make up a person, or a situation, and attacks or rejects those pieces that seem bad.  In this way, he is making the WHOLE person or situation…better.

    Oddly, it is his greatest surgical triumph that leads him to a romantic relationship and marriage.  His problem with fixing Sarah, though, is that he cannot understand what he did to fix her.  She believes that he fixed her, and adores him for it.  Jack does not believe in miracles, so he does not know how to explain how she was healed.  He continues his role of “fixer” in their relationship, until there is seemingly nothing left to fix.  Their relationship peaked at its genesis.  After a few years, Jack kisses another woman and quickly confesses it to his wife, along with promises to fix their relationship, be more present with her, be a better man, etc.  But for Sarah, it is too late.  The relationship ends.

    Jack’s ability to compartmentalize things does serve him well on the island.  When he gets scared, counting to five allows him to focus in on his task and block out everything in the way of that task.  When something needs to get done, Jack does it, or finds somebody else that will.  He has the largest impact on the group as a whole, based on his actions.  Jack thrives on problems, because they give him a chance to offer solutions and execute his plan.  In life, this is particularly important, because not many people believe that a world without problems is right around the corner.

    If you can define your task, focus, and complete it, you will succeed in many things.  BUT, if you let your ability to accomplish tasks define WHO YOU ARE, then disappointment, sadness, and frustration are inevitable.  My friend Ric McClain often said that we are “human beings” not “human doings”.  It seems that Jack fell into a trap of letting his actions define who he IS.  It leads him to accomplish the main task of the survivors…getting off of the island.  What joy does this leave him with though?  An addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs.  Instead of being a leader of society, he is now a borderline sociopath.  There are no tasks to complete as big as the ones he has already completed.  His identity and foundation are shaken.

    In part 2, I would like to share my thoughts on Jack’s low point: staring down off of a bridge, contemplating ending his life with a jump.  Until then, please leave any comments about  your thoughts on Jack’s journey, or the struggle to be defined by your actions.

  • LOST: How Providence Affects Jack’s Actions

    [6:45:06 PM] Zac: no pink elephants
    [6:45:30 PM] Erich: I would define greatness as character (being the same at home and work for ex.) and legacy (leaving the world better than you found it)
    [6:45:52 PM] Zac: that’s largely as i see it as well.
    [6:46:05 PM] Zac: my spirituality is shifting like crazy
    [6:46:13 PM] Erich: Knowledge, Mind, and the Given
    [6:46:31 PM] Zac: Where is that from?
    [6:46:42 PM] Erich: http://books.google.com/books?id=PpI9qRXf57UC&pg=PA164&lpg=PA164&dq=%22no+pink+elephants%22&source=bl&ots=GQL5RcGgDu&sig=1W8KxPlvm6ysO68yzqZ7usp4yv8&hl=en&ei=omQDSse7K52ctgPpgsXjAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPP1,M1
    [6:46:56 PM] Erich: I did a google search for “no pink elephants” its the first hit or so
    [6:47:09 PM] Zac: holy crap!
    [6:47:17 PM] Zac: where do you think of this stuff?
    [6:47:29 PM] Zac: it’s the whole book
    [6:50:40 PM] Zac: the whole concept of good and evil challenges me
    [6:51:00 PM] Zac: like darkness is not the opposite of light, but the absence of it
    [6:51:15 PM] Zac: is evil the absence of goodness?
    [6:51:25 PM] Zac: is “satan” the absence of God?
    [6:51:48 PM] Zac: maybe we should blog about this
    [6:52:02 PM] Erich: yeah, and after watching LOST with the whole time travel thing, it makes me think about the sunday school teachers who used to tell me, every new sin you commit hurts Jesus more in the past when he had to take on all of your sin at the cross – by reducing sin NOW you can reduce His sin THEN – like time travel backwards
    [6:52:34 PM] Zac: LOST was so crazy good last night
    [6:52:38 PM] Erich: like there is no such thing as cold, just absence of heat
    [6:52:39 PM] Zac: i love Jack’s evolution
    [6:52:44 PM] Zac: exactly
    [6:53:04 PM] Zac: how can their be providence from God and providence from Satan?
    [6:53:21 PM] Zac: or is satan’s work just a lack of providence running its course?
    [6:53:46 PM] Erich: I’ve started to not like Jack this season, but last night was the first night he seemed to be an actual player this season – second from the last show no less – well I take that back – in the beginning when he was getting people to come, that was okay, I just didn’t like him on the island at the beginning – he had a bad attitude
    [6:54:18 PM] Erich: I think Satan wanted to do his own thing, so he does things, they are just not Godly
    [6:54:20 PM] Zac: yeah, he was resigned to fate, and didn’t “manage his actions”
    [6:54:25 PM] Erich: haha, yeah
    [6:54:32 PM] Zac: i feel a post coming on
    [6:55:01 PM] Erich: satan is like the guy who didn’t want to work for the boss any more and wanted to go off on his own, but there was no non-compete agreement signed, just banishment
    [6:55:30 PM] Zac: how should we go about it?
    [6:55:49 PM] Erich: defining a post?
    [6:56:21 PM] Zac: no, the mission statment
    [6:56:23 PM] Zac: or vision
    [6:56:31 PM] Zac: what do we value
    [6:56:33 PM] Zac: ?
    [6:56:37 PM] Zac: changing lives?
    [6:56:46 PM] Zac: being a source of information?
    [6:56:54 PM] Erich: oh, well…
    [6:57:07 PM] Zac: creating dialoge?
    [6:57:12 PM] Erich: what I do at work when I have to define mission statements is I do a kind of keyword query
    [6:57:34 PM] Erich: then I form sentences or a sentence from the keywords
    [6:58:09 PM] Erich: so if we had one of those keyword maps or word counters on our blog, what would it say, or more importantly, what would we want it to say
    [6:58:28 PM] Zac: right
    [6:58:49 PM] Zac: growth
    [6:59:03 PM] Erich: life
    [6:59:07 PM] Erich: managing
    [6:59:10 PM] Erich: actions
    [6:59:11 PM] Zac: self awareness
    [6:59:46 PM] Erich: purpose
    [6:59:58 PM] Erich: faith
    [6:59:59 PM] Erich: love
    [7:00:15 PM] Zac: should we mention how movies, literature, and music affect us?
    [7:00:18 PM] Zac: culture?
    [7:00:19 PM] Erich: tired sleep sleepy awake
    [7:00:22 PM] Zac: pop culture?
    [7:00:34 PM] Erich: thought subconcious concious
    [7:00:43 PM] Zac: love that
    [7:01:07 PM] Erich: yes, we we are influenced heavily by Goonies, LOST, the Matrix
    [7:01:22 PM] Erich: timing is a big one too
    [7:01:34 PM] Erich: but not sure how that fits in with our mission
    [7:01:50 PM] Erich: time
    [7:01:57 PM] Erich: legacy
    [7:02:06 PM] Erich: desire
    [7:02:23 PM] Erich: growth
    [7:02:25 PM] Erich: roi
    [7:02:36 PM] Zac: we exist to discuss the relationship between our thoughts and actions, and how by managing them we can enjoy lives filled with purpose, growth, love, and legacy.
    [7:02:42 PM] Erich: attitude
    [7:02:56 PM] Zac: tweak away
    [7:03:07 PM] Erich: okay, I’m going to hack on the verbs first
    [7:03:19 PM] Zac: please do
    [7:03:41 PM] Erich: I like to drop off the first three words at the begining too while planning.  they are always just filler.
    [7:03:54 PM] Zac: ok
    [7:04:16 PM] Zac: what do you think about “discuss”?
    [7:04:33 PM] Erich: that’s what I’m hacking off , sorry
    [7:04:43 PM] Erich: I’m thinking of replacing it with “making”
    [7:04:58 PM] Erich: or finding
    [7:04:59 PM] Zac: ok, keep going
    [7:05:04 PM] Zac: seeking?
    [7:05:07 PM] Erich: yes
    [7:05:17 PM] Erich: seeking sounds more philosophical so lets use that for now
    [7:05:23 PM] Zac: like it
    [7:06:43 PM] Erich: …seeking to define the relationship between our thoughts and our actions to learn and share how managing this relationship can allow us to live a great life.
    [7:07:05 PM] Zac: oddly, my only beef would be with “great life”
    [7:07:14 PM] Erich: yeah, that was my filler line
    [7:07:18 PM] Erich: I didn’t know how to close it
    [7:07:29 PM] Zac: can we find a similar word for relationship the second time around?
    [7:07:36 PM] Erich: yeah, you’re righ
    [7:07:44 PM] Erich: hmm…connection?
    [7:07:49 PM] Zac: amalgamation sounds so pretentious
    [7:07:52 PM] Erich: partnership?
    [7:08:04 PM] Erich: don’t know what that word amalgamous is
    [7:08:19 PM] Zac: exactly, neither do i really
    [7:08:28 PM] Zac: it’s just to make myself feel good
    [7:09:06 PM] Erich: I think it means a random allotment of stuff thats placed in a lot together, but that is what google is for, our exteriour brain
    [7:09:14 PM] Zac: yeah, partnership seems like it should apply to people more than….
    [7:09:37 PM] Erich: …seeking to define the relationship between our thoughts and our actions to learn and share how managing this relationship can allow us to live a great life.
    [7:09:41 PM] Zac: are you looking up synonms?
    [7:09:59 PM] Erich: no, but try the visual synonm generator
    [7:10:16 PM] Erich: http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
    [7:10:51 PM] Zac: alliance?
    [7:10:54 PM] Erich: state
    [7:11:16 PM] Erich: connectedness
    [7:11:26 PM] Zac: like that
    [7:11:29 PM] Zac: link?
    [7:11:38 PM] Erich: to what
    [7:11:43 PM] Zac: a zelda reference
    [7:11:47 PM] Zac: and encino man
    [7:11:57 PM] Erich: oh
    [7:12:01 PM] Zac: …seeking to define the relationship between our thoughts and our actions to learn and share how managing this link can allow us to live a great life.
    [7:12:02 PM] Erich: legend of zelda link
    [7:12:11 PM] Erich: I see, sory, forgot what we were talking about
    [7:12:17 PM] Erich: yeah, duh, link, good one.
    [7:12:30 PM] Zac: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gokttuXJME&feature=channel_page
    [7:13:00 PM] Zac: they are great.
    [7:13:06 PM] Zac: 2 and ahalf minutes
    [7:13:11 PM] Erich: I guess we do then
    [7:13:12 PM] Zac: have you seen that one?
    [7:13:22 PM] Erich: no, not this one, but that satan guy is hilarious!
    [7:13:27 PM] Zac: he really is
    [7:13:31 PM] Zac: i want him as a friend
    [7:13:47 PM] Erich: he does seem like he’d be a good friend, you’re right
    [7:14:26 PM] Zac: ok, i’m liking our statement so far
    [7:14:30 PM] Erich: “definitely for it” its hilarious that he thanks God for it
    [7:14:57 PM] Zac: let me find another one
    [7:15:03 PM] Erich: okay
    [7:16:06 PM] Zac: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDqRheBu2cg
    [7:17:40 PM] Erich: so, what is it now, …seeking to define the relationship between our thoughts and our actions to learn and share how managing this link can allow us to live a great life.
    [7:17:58 PM] Zac: how about “fulfilling life”?
    [7:18:20 PM] Erich: hmm, how about some of those adjectives we used before instead
    [7:18:34 PM] Erich: how we defined life – character, legacy
    [7:18:53 PM] Zac: life of character?
    [7:19:05 PM] Zac: life worthy of a legacy
    [7:19:10 PM] Erich: …allow us to live a life of character.
    [7:19:19 PM] Zac: yep
    [7:19:19 PM] Erich: it seems like we can’t use both though.
    [7:19:37 PM] Zac: now, the begninning
    [7:19:58 PM] Erich: …allow us to leave a legacy by living a life of character.
    [7:20:20 PM] Zac: now, that’s some poetry erich!
    [7:21:35 PM] Erich: thanks, but its almost too powerful – it overwhelms the initial purpose of the mission statement in the begining – but maybe not
    [7:22:02 PM] Erich: unless you view it like the five w’s, who what when where why how
    [7:22:14 PM] Zac: put it all together
    [7:22:17 PM] Erich: who: we are…
    [7:22:19 PM] Zac: what have we got?
    [7:22:34 PM] Erich: what: seeking to define the relationship between our thoughs and our actions
    [7:23:10 PM] Erich: why: to learn and share how
    [7:23:35 PM] Erich: how: managing this link
    [7:23:58 PM] Erich: where: in our lives.
    [7:24:40 PM] Zac: i’m pretty happy with that, although it doesn’t necessarily touch on God or providence
    [7:24:42 PM] Erich: …seeking to define the relationship between our thoughts and our actions to learn and share how managing this link can allow us to live a great life allow us to live a life of character.
    [7:24:59 PM] Zac: do we want that?
    [7:25:13 PM] Erich: …seeking to define the relationship between our thoughts and our actions to learn and share how managing this link can allow us to live a life of character.
    [7:25:15 PM] Zac: …seeking to define the relationship between our thoughts and our actions to learn and share how managing this link can allow us to live a life of character.
    [7:25:20 PM] Zac: jinx
    [7:25:21 PM] Erich: sorry, messedup the first time
    [7:25:25 PM] Erich: haha
    [7:25:33 PM] Erich: chat jinx, not sure if that counts
    [7:25:39 PM] Erich: all though its got to count for something
    [7:25:45 PM] Zac: what do you think about providence?
    [7:25:49 PM] Zac: or God?
    [7:25:55 PM] Zac: or the unexplainable?
    [7:25:55 PM] Erich: pre determination
    [7:26:03 PM] Erich: I think God exists because he does stuff
    [7:26:18 PM] Zac: i mean, in our statement
    [7:26:39 PM] Erich: when you believe he does stuff, but I guess a disbeliever would say, “you’re attributing things to God when you have previously asked God for these things”
    [7:26:45 PM] Erich: oh
    [7:27:02 PM] Zac: would a post about jack’s transformation be about his response to destiny “proving” itself?
    [7:27:08 PM] Erich: I’m not sure how providence would fit in the mission statement
    [7:27:18 PM] Zac: or would it just be about his thoughts and his new behaviours that have sprung from that?
    [7:27:27 PM] Zac: i think i may have just answered my own question
    [7:27:40 PM] Zac: if it affects our thoughts and/or actions, it is relevent
    [7:27:44 PM] Zac: we are pretty golden there
    [7:27:51 PM] Zac: like bea arthur
    [7:27:54 PM] Zac: rip
    [7:28:13 PM] Erich: well from the beginning the show has been a mirror, 180 days on the island, halway through the season, light, dark, ying yang, jack on one side, locke on the other
    [7:28:35 PM] Erich: jack is more like locke now and locke is more like jack now in the second half
    [7:29:01 PM] Zac: i know.  lock is the “leader” and jack is the “believer”
    [7:29:09 PM] Zac: it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing
    [7:29:24 PM] Zac: i am so impressed that a show of this quality exists
    [7:29:33 PM] Zac: that could be a weekly feature for the next season
    [7:29:39 PM] Erich: huh, I didn’t notice that, you’re right though.  I wonder who Jacob is.  Jacob might be a kind of metaphor for God in this conversation
    [7:29:44 PM] Zac: you and i remarking on our thoughts of an episode
    [7:29:57 PM] Zac: he is either God or the pope
    [7:29:59 PM] Zac: i think
    [7:30:12 PM] Erich: the scientist wants to kill “God” the one who unanswered things get thought by
    [7:31:48 PM] Zac: looking forward seems to be the best medicine, but wisdom comes frorm not making the same mistakes twice
    [7:32:00 PM] Zac: i think that i’m going to tweet that
    [7:32:20 PM] Erich: yeah, you done good with that tweet, son
    [7:36:03 PM] Zac: i’m so very much like john locke (first few seasons).  signs of the right path.  the island talking to him
    [7:36:45 PM] Erich: Who or what is “the island” to you? <–sounds like a blog post title
    [7:37:16 PM] Erich: and Locke has crazy woman troubles, not sure how that relates
    [7:37:18 PM] Zac: providence/God
    [7:37:28 PM] Zac: very true
    [7:37:34 PM] Zac: jack as well
    [7:37:37 PM] Zac: and sawyer
    [7:37:46 PM] Zac: and charlie
    [7:37:47 PM] Erich: that’s true too, they all have woman troubles and daddy issues
    [7:38:01 PM] Zac: i vascilate between jack and locke a lot
    [7:38:05 PM] Zac: also desmond and charlie
    [7:38:14 PM] Zac: who do you relate to?
    [7:38:28 PM] Erich: hurley’s dad, the chinese dude’s dad, jack’s dad, locke’s dad, kate’s dad
    [7:38:50 PM] Erich: who do I relate too? hurley kind of – laid back
    [7:39:21 PM] Zac: hurley is like the everyman
    [7:39:21 PM] Erich: I wish I was as cool as sawyer – Jack’s kind of a nerd – he wasn’t in season 1, but he is kind of now to me – not sure why
    [7:39:25 PM] Zac: like the audience
    [7:39:32 PM] Erich: yeah, you’re exactly right
    [7:39:50 PM] Zac: jack just got thrown out of wack and is trying to find something to hold onto
    [7:40:01 PM] Erich: that was hilarious last night when he said, “Okay, we’re from the future” since he didn’t know the president. I was cracking up, dude.
    [7:40:15 PM] Zac: man, we need to have a lost post fest
    [7:40:47 PM] Zac: ok, is our mission statement 99% done?
    [7:40:48 PM] Erich: yeah, Jack likes to fix things – for a while, the providence made fixing impossible…but now…providence has lead him to be ABLE to fix something
    [7:41:01 PM] Zac: that is a great thought!
    [7:41:13 PM] Zac: I would love to read more of your thoughts on this.
    [7:41:16 PM] Erich: yeah, that one was for free
    [7:41:53 PM] Erich: hahaha, I figured you’re going to write at least one post on Jack and the role of providence in his life, how it affects his actions.
    [7:42:27 PM] Erich: Or we could just copy this thread and post it.  It’s our blog, we can do what we want with it.
    [7:42:27 PM] Zac: i think that sounds perfect.  it can be a recurring theme in our blog
    [7:42:37 PM] Zac: hmmm
    [7:43:21 PM] Zac: yeah, do you want to edit it down and we can put it up now, with a tease for more lost related thoughts to come?
    [7:44:06 PM] Erich: Definitely a theme though.  Our primary keyword is “actions”.  How does roadblocks affect our actions – what do we do when things get in the way of our goals. How does providence affect our actions – if everything is predetermined, then why does anything matter? just two examples there.
    [7:44:19 PM] Erich: Yeah, I can post it sure.