Transformation Process

Let’s briefly return to the film Gran Torino by Clint Eastwood, a clear representative of this type of character, which also faithfully reveals the Social 1 in some of his films. This film has exemplary value for this type of character through its main character, the war veteran Walt Kowalski, a misanthrope and right-winger, an arrogant and hypercritical old man who, deep down, became profoundly lonely.

Gran Torino is not only useful in showing the character traits of the Social 1 with complete frankness, but it also provides a restorative gesture, a profound transformation that shakes the character from their deepest anchoring in the ego and infuses them with a new humanity that not only humanizes them and makes them more aware of otherness, but also enables them to relate to people they have never seen before. Walt not only places Tao, his young Vietnamese neighbor, above his own family in his will but goes so far as to give his life for him and his family, in an act where his inadequacy is converted into a heroic impulse that sows life and freedom.

Perhaps this is an extreme example. But everything related to building human bonds, accepting others, becoming one with a community, establishing dialogues, explaining oneself, cultivating closeness, opening the heart, and recognizing one’s own fragility will greatly assist an Social 1 in their transformation process. A large part of this process has to do with achieving a higher degree of serenity, the virtue of the E1. The main difficulty for this character is recognizing that they are not truly serene or virtuous. We are talking about recognizing the false identity they developed as a lifeline, ceasing to confuse it with the truth of their good principles and their supposedly healthy love for justice. This means opening the eyes to the distorted belief that “there is a better world and a worse world,” “the bad and the good,” “the just and the unjust,” and realizing that all the energy invested in creating an ordered world is, in reality, a very elementary and linear view that does not take into account the complexity and flow of events that cannot be controlled.

It is essential that the person’s capacity to accept that they can make mistakes grows—something that, in a more primitive stage of human development, can be unthinkable for any representative of this character. The Social 1 will get closer to this goal by becoming more flexible: giving more space to play, to spontaneity, allowing themselves to drop their aristocratic pose to explore their comic side, their tears, their passion... The more they allow themselves to explore these normally prohibited territories, the more rigidity they will lose. Their fear of breaking the rules will disappear, and they will abandon that permanent feeling of fear, shame, shyness, and danger that they spend so much energy blocking. Additionally, they will also relax in the face of differing opinions from others and learn to be more tolerant. Losing rigidity, their granite and exclusionary condition, may bring them closer to a new relationship with laughter and humor.

We can consider an Social 1 who can openly laugh as a person truly advanced in their "holy war" against the ego: it is not easy for someone whose body is so accustomed to the rictus of seriousness and to maintaining the status quo of their respectability and power through their harsh, aristocratic, and meticulous expression.

The next step is a greater surrender. Surrender to what? To life, to erotic expression, to the pleasure of the senses, to the commands and needs of the body. Perhaps, with time, the Social 1 will adjust to the feeling that lowering their guard and relaxing their sphincters is not, in fact, a dangerous behavior. And perhaps, with time, they will realize that this is also good not only for them but also for their entire environment, which will undoubtedly be grateful for this new condition of humanity. This work of surrender and trust will necessarily be accompanied by a “letting go” and a “release” that will be very useful in the process. Let go of self-importance. Abandon high moral standards. Let go of control. Drop the masks of power.

An evolving Social 1 will become aware of their status as the Wizard of Oz, who was actually a little man using illusionist tricks to instill fear and respect in passersby. When this neurotic need to be respected through fear, distance, and recognition as an unquestionable authority is abandoned, the Social 1 will be able to enter a new form of integration into life and community, based on a natural respect, not moral, but virtuous, where the merits are those of the heart and spontaneous surrender to life.

Becoming aware of oneself is an inevitable consequence of this process. For it is not necessary to be perfect to love oneself, it is necessary to develop gratitude, accept that life is as it is, that things are as they are. We may even refer here to amor fati, the love of fate spoken of by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: a love for the facts of life as they are, as they were, accepting both the good and the painful: "Not wanting anything to be different in the past, or in the future, or for all eternity," as Nietzsche said. Not only to endure what is necessary, much less to hide it; all idealism is a lie in the face of what is necessary, but to love it.

In its most earthly sense, for the Social 1, instead of constantly proving their "I know," it is an achievement to accept that things are as they are and that there is no problem in surrendering to the highs and lows and purposes of life. From there, a more Dionysian condition becomes possible, more "do what I want" and not "what I must," a more meaningful and joyful erotic love, with the healthy spontaneity that children feel simply for being alive.

The transformed Social 1 delights in natural and simple things: "the air, the people...". Their greatest aspiration will be to replace duty with pleasure. They are admirers of knowledge, but no longer worry so much about teaching others to gain recognition, instead enjoying the pure and deep epistemophilic drive: the simple and rich love for knowledge. They want to understand. They look at the divine, the higher, and realize that things are perfect as they are. There is no need to change them. There is no need to push the river. Nothing sinks if they are not watching. The Taoist rhythm of life, of nature, is imposed before their obsession and neurotic compulsivity. This step would be a major blow to their false image and their narcissistic personality: losing control, accepting their limits, dismantling the "Perfect Don" mask.

A significant transformation may involve recognizing that the rejection of others is related to their own self-rejection. And that being rejected is also tied to their own self-censorship. To redirect these impulses toward light and life, theater, creative expression, improvisation, dance, spontaneous movement, the development of the ability to experience different roles, and to work in groups... all of this helps. Theater is, of course, an antidote to the shame and shyness that lead to the accumulation of anger and distancing from life and the world.

To transform, the Social 1 needs loving acceptance in the face of their own coldness and rigidity, and to be appreciated for their abilities, which they themselves do not recognize, as well as for their limitations. wrote Antonio Ferrara in 27 personajes en busca de ser. "Altruistic love makes me less demanding and more benevolent toward others." And further on, he writes: "Today, even when I express my discomfort or anger, I do so based on behavior, I do not devalue or offend the person, even when there is confrontation".... [Today I don't care if I sometimes seem superficial or ridiculous; it costs a lot to always be serious, capable, and intelligent. Now it’s a real pleasure to 'play the fool' and discover that no one criticizes me; in fact, I like myself and I am also likable. More and more, the Neapolitan behind the mask of the Englishman, a metaphor with which I introduced myself many years ago in a seminar conducted by Claudio Naranjo, shows itself, and I enjoy using the colorful language of my city.

For some time now, my mood has been changing and I quickly shift from seriousness to joy or to spontaneous bursts of anger that are quickly reabsorbed. My control has decreased a lot, and I feel that I am in a moment of change. Change again? And what? I don't know... Perhaps little and perhaps insignificant. But, for me, it has to do with feeling alive. In general, I feel more at peace with life and, as I said, with a deep capacity for understanding and respect for others. I like to look for the motivations of people who hurt me or harm me. I don't think about the harm, I want to know their reasons. I don't like breaking relationships. The greatest achievement is that I am beginning to reap the fruits of my meditation practice, and this also means greater acceptance when I don't do it well. If before I thought I had to be perfect to be recognized and to belong to this world, today I can say: 'What a gift not to be perfect; this way I can grow and enjoy life.' In recent years, my thinking has become volatile. Sometimes, I lose the thread of what I am saying or forget; I feel lost, and then... then I tell myself that it’s okay, that it doesn’t matter, I relax, and maybe laugh.