Special People

[kokopelle]

This is a blog entry about "special" people in general and the indigo child phenomenon specifically. I am posting this because I am struggling with the why and how of being special. I know there are places of relative appropriateness and timing. In a way, the indigos are a poster-child of the specialness movement. Personally I don't have issues with larger groups of being special. Group-thought has a different dynamic from individual-thought. My struggle is with the discernment between the individual's ego and soul expressing their specialness. Anyway, the following entry outlines my general thoughts on the topic. Comments and feedback are appreciated.


Last year I turned 41 this year on the Summer Solstice. I do this every year as my birthday is on June 20th. A friend of mine remarked, "oh, you must be a person with qualities of X (I can't remember what those qualities were) because of the time of year you were born." Maybe so. I am smart enough, intuitive/psychic/healer, good with concepts but bad with memorizing names, and desiring not to be in this word. In the meantime I hold down an Engineering job while having a pretty good time with it.

I'm obviously not an indigo child given my age. Let’s suppose I am "special" because of my birthday. I can probably find a book that explains why its so. But how special am I? We are all special in some way. We have talents, hang-ups, abilities and liabilities. Each generation has their own challenges. It’s nice to put a word on these. It’s nice to have a story to explain it. It’s even nicer to have the story be one in which you’re the hero. (IMO!) The indigo phenomenon, as a whole, smacks of the adults wrapping a story around the children. The story explains how the information age has impacted the children. The story also sets them up as heroes as it explains why their generational liabilities are actually the hallmark of greater things.

What liabilities? Children face new challenges with a instantaneous information and entertainment. Everything is knowable and seeable. Video games create the ability to completely immerse into virtual environments. It’s little wonder that boredom and disconnection with the natural or real world has been the result. Angst results. Guess what… angst and wonderment with why we’re here is a fact of every generation. I believe that the current generation merely has it in spades because of the information age.

In closing I also want to mention that I am disturbed when I think of the shadow outcomes of the indigo movement. Parents are being told that their children are saviors of the world. Their children stand outside the world and are here to save the rest of us. The hubris of this is amazing. It is one thing to believe in aliens plans, planetary vibrations, earth changes, genetic programming, doomsday clocks, and so on. I embrace some of these myself. It is another thing to pre-load out children with the responsibility of fulfilling a prophecy or living a life of separation from the world they are equally responsible for. The sweeping generalizations of the indigo movement strike me as being dogmatic as the sweeping generalizations and expectations of astrology, organized religion or politics. It’s one thing for adults to play games with each other. It’s another thing to put our children in the cross-hairs.


I hope I am making sense. My kindest regards and highest hopes to those who are truly indigo. There is a truth there. We do need the help.

Comments

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

I examined, thought and wrote about the Indigo phenomenon before the woo-woo peddlars got hold of it and turned it into what it is today. 90% of what they say about it is sheer bullshit. That sounds harsh, but they've literally created monsters.

Here is what I know: Indigo (or more properly blue-violet) people are beings who have lived many lifetimes, and who have had their 'been there, done that' passport stamped. They may not have actual memories of their previous lives, but they come into the world with a precociousness that is palpable. They are born Awake, only needing some maturation of their physicial bodies to fully tune in. They're linked in to their previous life experiences, and can recognize and work with Patterns and Currents long before their peers even realize that such things exist.

Indigo people are extremely rare, and there was not a huge clump of them born recently. There are such beings in every generation- including yours and mine. Sadly, because they are born Awake, some do not survive their youth or young adulthood, because they can see those Patterns and Currents, and they overwhelm them. Those who do survive often have to battle depression, addiction, and alienation. Life is not easy for them as youngsters. The survivors do have an easier time of it, as their senses mature and they become able to read and work with the Current. They really come into their own in their late thirties and later.

Personally, I believe that it should be a criminal offense to label a child "Indigo" since there is a 99% chance that they are not. Most "Indigo" kids are spoilt brats with delusive parents.

You'll know an Indigo when you see one- they have a quiet charisma that is unmistakeable. It isn't overt, and not everyone can sense it, but there is that sense that they can read you like a book, and know all your secrets.

They do. And they don't care. They prefer their own company, and often prefer not to marry or have children of their own. So the whole 'Indigo Parent' thing is a load of baloney. The rare children they do have are generally not Indigo- this is not a genetically heritable thing like Aspies or Autism. (Some Indigo people appear to have a mild form of Asperger's, but this is actually protective coloration. Their empathy and ability to read people is fully intact.)

What is the real purpose of Indigo people? They watch. They learn. They facilitate and teach. They seek and work with the Patterns and Currents and take a reading on how things are going in this world. A sudden surge of living Indigo people is not a good sign, because it means that major, possibly cataclysmic changes, are in motion for the planet. Their purpose is to direct the correction.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

Agreed! IMO some "blame" can deposited into the parents' laps. Yes, they are desperately seeking answers for why their children act like they do. Desperation will make people believe almost anything. The blame then shifts to the authors of the books like "Your Child Could be an Indigo!". As a writer myself (blogs for the time being) I can understand how authors must generalize to some degree and how they have their very own profound experiences. One must write to a large audience and write from a small set of personal experience. I would hope that most authors would write from a desire to share and facilitate healing.

The desperation/curiosity of parents and the natural limitations of authors do not excuse them from the very real responsibility of not doing to damage children. Sadly, sometimes damage happens no matter what the rosy intentions. All involved can still pause for half a second to consider what they are doing, especially when the answers/motivation are "you are special". Hmmm... the more I think about this, the more I wonder about the inherent wrongness of the "special" statements. This could be part of the answer I am looking for. Oh well, material for another blog entry.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Is there a way one can find out of one is an Indigo? Or are you just supposed to "know"?

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

A lot of current Indigo lore (and all the books) are based on Pamela Oslie's "Life Colors", which includes a test to see what your primary aural color is.

Much of the stuff sprang from that. Here's what she had to say about Indigos:

Indigo is the most recent aura color to arrive on the planet. Indigos are ushering in a new energy, a new consciousness, and a new age of peace and harmony. Whereas Violets feel driven to help save the planet, to educate the masses, and to improve life here, Indigos are here to live as examples of a new higher awareness.

At this writing, most of the Indigos are children, although there are a few Indigos who came as forerunners years ago. The words used to describe Indigos include honest, aware, highly intuitive, psychic, independent, fearless, strong-willed, and sensitive.

Indigos are old souls who know who they are and where they've come from. Some consider Indigos to be bizarre. These assertive individuals are born with their spiritual memories intact. Many parents report that their Indigo children regale them with vivid details of past lives or recent encounters with spiritual beings. Parents also report that these children can read their minds and seem to have amazing psychic abilities. Parents are often at a loss as to how to raise these amazing little beings.

An unusual characteristic of Indigos is that they frequently appear androgynous. It is often difficult to tell if Indigos are male or female, homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, or asexual. It's as if Indigos have both the yin and yang, male and female qualities within them. Their sexuality is not their primary concern however; it is their spirituality.

That is what I call "Paragraph Zero"- the springboard of the whole Indigo Children thing.

Here's the irony: no self-respecting person of that sort would call themselves "Indigo", or do so for long. I did for a while, but I detest labels and pigeonholes. This is true for most mature folks.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

*nods* I believe I know a few, maybe even my husband (then again, he just may be an entity unto his own).

[greensh.livejournal.com]

SunFell's answer was quite good... I'll just add the following about chasing labels.

I am an amateur astrologer. I could have moved onto being a 'professional' astrologer. I'm smart enough and have enough intuition to pull it off. I didn't make that move because I saw people using astrology as an excuse for what they did or how they felt. Any tool like astrology has the capacity to empower people. Instead I saw people using astrology to remove responsibility from themselves. I find it really eerie that your text above could have an astrology sign inserted for the word 'indigo', and the text would ring true for me. Why? It's human nature to want to have a story or explanation for who we are, why we are here, and what we are going to do in the future. The excessive embrace of any label becomes 'excuse' for either holding oneself above the crowd or holding oneself below full potential.

It is the individual's right to think very highly or very lowly of themselves. Anybody is welcome to believe they are super-special. I merely shake my head at such personal identities. The place I take issue is when others attempt to put labels on others. Sometimes the wrongness of this is very apparent, as in the case of racist or sexist remarks. The shadow-side of labeling is in the application of positive labels. To tell a child that they super-special, the saviors of the world, and are exempted from social norms of behavior because of their exalted condition, is a not right.

This is what I'm learning from this discussion. The self-application super-special labels is ok, though potentially disturbing to others. Everyone is allowed their own reality. It is the other-application of labels that kicks up the danger meter. Hmmm...

[greensh.livejournal.com]

Do you really have adults coming up to you and telling you the "There there child, you couldn't understand, I'm Indigo you see, and..." stuff?

[greensh.livejournal.com]

**SHUDDER** These are the monsters Sunfell mentioned. I have to ask... where did you meet these people?

[greensh.livejournal.com]

Elaine Aron wrote the book "The Highly Sensitive Person (http://www.amazon.com/Highly-Sensitive-Person-Elaine-Aron/dp/0553062182/sr=8-2/qid=1171641465/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-9614839-4432621?ie=UTF8&s=books)". A friend once recommended that I read it, as she thought I had many of the 'traits' of a sensitive person. According to the Amazon.com blurb about the book:

Are you an HSP? Are you easily overwhelmed by stimuli? Affected by other people's moods? Easily startled? Do you need to withdraw during busy times to a private, quiet place? Do you get nervous or shaky if someone is observing you or competing with you? HSP, shorthand for "highly sensitive person," describes 15 to 20 percent of the population.

I got the book and read just a little bit of it. I had to put it down. The concept of putting myself in a box, in this case the "highly sensitive" one, did not work for me. Yes, I have some symptoms. I also don't have some of the symptoms. To use dramatic words, I didn't want to contaminate myself with the book's thought-forms of how I could be. The Amazon blurb goes on to say:

Being sensitive is a normal trait--nothing defective about it. But you may not realize that, because society rewards the outgoing personality and treats shyness and sensitivity as something to be overcome. According to author Elaine Aron (herself an HSP), sensitive people have the unusual ability to sense subtleties, spot or avoid errors, concentrate deeply, and delve deeply. This book helps HSPs to understand themselves and their sensitive trait and its impact on personal history, career, relationships, and inner life.

I could substitute the word "Virgo" for "sensitive" and people would be nodding their heads in recognition of "themselves" in this general statement. Elaine admits that she wrote the book from personal experience. I am seeing that the extension of "personal experience" to "group experience" by an author is a very slippery slope. I hope to never, knowingly at least, write something that slams people into boxes that can do as much harm as good.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

We are all outside of the mythical norm. IMO there is no such thing as normal. Maybe a better word would be "typical". (smile)

Artificial devices like labels are handy for organizing things, people included. What is your impression on the usefulness of labels? When does identification end and abdication begin?

[valkyriur.livejournal.com]

The indigo movement, since I've heard about it, has only made me roll my eyes and weep for humanity. After the Indigo Children came the Crystal Children and before that were supposedly something else. That list of "if your child has 3 or more of these 15 characteristics, the child may be an indigo child" is BS to me. Considering 3 of them are as silly as "your child does not like to stand in line". Who does?

This child worship has got to stop. If you have an incredibly talented child, say like my sister, that's wonderful. Let the child do all the creative and scientific things he or she wants. However, they still need to function in society. The need to function in society is what the "indigo" movement denies. That's what bothers me the most about it.

[valkyriur.livejournal.com]

I figured it was netspeak. I just hadn't seen that particular one before. Thank you for explaining. :)

[valkyriur.livejournal.com]

IAWTC
Not sure what that stands for. Could you please write that out for me. Thanks. :)

Isn't it more special to have a normal kid who has amazing accomplishments, than to slap a label on them that makes such extraordinary behaviour no more than the norm?
How incredibly astute! You're absolutely correct.

[lupini.livejournal.com]

IMO: Each individual has gifts, talents, and weaknesses that makes them special. It is fear (wiggles eyebrows at greensh) that makes people/parents afraid to claim their own ability to make changes and be spectacular that makes them push the tasks to the next generation. It is their fear that allows them to say "I'm not special, and can't fix this...but my children will."

We can make the changes now, if we wanted to.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." Spoken by Nelson Mandela, orignally written by Marianne Williamson.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

The following song, "I'm Counting On You", is by Chris DeBurgh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_de_Burgh). It speaks of the hope of the new generation, the despair of the old, and the challenge of both. It is simutaneously hopeful and sad. This song was one of the few that brought a tear to my eye. I can only hope that we can all be the child that the singer speaks of.

The night is so wild, and downstairs the child,
Is sleeping, her spirit is free,
For more than an hour, I have walked in the rain,
I've been wondering what she will be,
But where are the heroes, where are the dreams,
That I had, when I was young,
Am I hoping in vain, just to think,
She could change anything?
Well I'm counting on you;

I'm counting on you to bring that sweet gentleness,
To your world and all that you do,
My generation is losing its way,
We don't know, what we're leaving for you,
So may there be millions who feel like you do,
Oh my love,

There is so much to know,
There is so far to go,
But you are not alone,
When this is your world,
And I'm counting on you;

Come to me, turn to me, give me your eyes,
When you see the mysteries of time,
Here there are those who just live in the past,
They will never let history lie,
And this sad little island is breaking my heart,
With its dark,
Shades of green,
And as hard as I try, I just cannot see why,
This should be...
I'm counting on you,

There is so much to know,
There is so far to go,
But you are not alone,
When this is your world,
And I'm counting on you,
I'm counting on you...