Core Belief Profile 4
The Artist Elephant
Core Belief Profile 4
The Artist Elephant
Core Belief Profile 4
The Artist Elephant
Role Description
The Artist is a unique person and focuses on being special and distinctive. They are absorbed in an emotional world. So emotional connection and relationships are important and they highly value the expression of authentic feelings.
They focus on living a unique and extraordinary life and they tend to long for the unobtainable, whatever that may be.
The reason Artists are drawn to deep connections is that they feel they need to keep searching for an ideal love (relationships) or for perfect circumstances to make them complete. The underlying assumption is that there is more to life than merely the ordinary. This means that they will be sensitive to emotions and feelings in others and will experience intense feelings from great joy to depression.
While they want attention, they withdraw from social settings with the hope that someone will seek them out and appreciate them for being the unique person they feel themselves to be.
Artists are envious because they feel they have been denied the feelings of contentment and fulfilment that other people appear to experience. This envy fuels a search for the objects and status that supposedly make them satisfied.
When an Artist enters the room, their sense of self is ‘I am not part of what is going on. I am not like these other people. I do not fit in.’ They will then reinforce this position by being standoffish and aloof and acting in a mysterious fashion.
The desire for deep connections extends beyond personal relationships. Artists not only appreciate beautiful objects, but they also collect beautiful things which have great meaning/connection. They may display modern art in their home but equally display a piece of jewellery their grandmother bought on a special occasion. They love heirlooms.
What is positive and attractive about the future and the past.
What is missing or distant that they long for and feel lonely without.
What is aesthetically pleasing and deeply touching or meaningful.
Being rejected, abandoned, not heard, or insignificant.
Feeling they do not measure up.
Feeling there is something wrong with them.
The mundane.
People and experiences that lack emotional depth.
Intense feelings of sadness and longing associated with what seems to be missing or lacking in their life.
Finding love, meaning and fulfilment through self-expression and deep connection.
Creating themselves to be unique individuals.
Responses to material can change based on inner feeling state
Prefers experiential training, which is useful for achieving personal involvement
Material should be ‘attractive’ in order to bring out internal experience and engagement with others
Affinity for metaphor and symbols leading to deeper meanings
Needs to understand the theory and the ‘why’ of things
Wants personal rapport with the instructor/manager
In performance or test situations can lose focus even though competent or knowledgeable
Do go out of your way to praise them for their unique perspective and insight.
Do try to empathise with them rather than attempting to assist them (they need understanding more than they need help).
Do ensure that you communicate that their creative ideas have been received, understood and appreciated. This is everything to them.
Do provide assurances of your commitment to them. An Artist will consistently be on the lookout for the possibility of abandonment. Don’t give them a reason to feel abandoned.
Do count on complex interrelationships. Nothing is simple with them and so depth of relating, rather than fun, is the goal.
Do appreciate that they are sensitive to your emotions and will support you through your painful times.
Do come to expect flatness from daily life and relationships. The daily experiences are intensified through sabotage, suffering and dramatic acts because they will do anything to elicit a reaction.
Envy
Longing
Melancholy
Don’t minimise their feelings. This only makes them wrap themselves more tightly.
Don’t presume that you know what will satisfy them. They must find their own motivation; all you can do is accept whatever it is.
Don’t try to give them an answer to their quandaries. Instead, let them express themselves for however long this takes.
Don’t ask an Artist to lower their intensity. They equate this with being dishonest.
Don’t expect the Artist to appreciate present opportunities or experiences to the full.
Do not give up. While despair shadows you, fight to see that everything is not actually a lost cause.
Your feelings need not determine everything that you do. Learn to name them rather than just to be them. Convey emotions rather than being forced to act them out.
Do not stew in your emotions if you can help it. Move your body instead – depression is linked to energy flow and movement is an appropriate means of changing it.
Question yourself if you are ignoring a colleague’s contribution because you have judged them as shallow.
Do not confuse compromise with appropriate negotiations. The ability to collaborate and to factor in practical considerations can make your projects stronger.
Not everything is completely personal.
