Did you know that in the Sesame Street TV Show, the muppets are classified in two general groups: Order Muppets and Chaos Muppets?
According to Dahlia Lithwick, writing for Slate.com , chaos muppets and order muppets are explained as:
"Chaos Muppets are out-of-control, emotional, volatile. They tend toward the blue and fuzzy. They make their way through life in a swirling maelstrom of food crumbs, small flaming objects, and the letter C. Cookie Monster, Ernie, Grover, Gonzo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and—paradigmatically—Animal, are all Chaos Muppets.
"Order Muppets—and I’m thinking about Bert, Scooter, Sam the Eagle, Kermit the Frog, and the blue guy who is perennially harassed by Grover at restaurants (the Order Muppet Everyman)—tend to be neurotic, highly regimented, averse to surprises and may sport monstrously large eyebrows. They sometimes resent the responsibility of the world weighing on their felt shoulders, but they secretly revel in the knowledge that they keep the show running. "
Which do you feel you fall into? Would other people agree with your choice for yourself?
I wonder if those people that feel that they are a square peg in a round hole, might have a conflict between how they see themselves and how others perceive them. Do you feel like you're naturally a chaos muppet but have had to reign it in in order to fit in with work? Or expectations?
Or perhaps you're naturally a very structured and ordered muppet and have had to loosen the reigns a little so that you can appear more adaptable and less controlling?
Obviously, there will always be instances where you have to adapt your behaviour to the circumstance: Meeting the Queen while f-ing and blinding, and wearing your gardening clothes, is probably unwise. As is going to Metallica gig while wearing brogues and a trilby. There is always a certain amount of fitting in, and gauging what a situation calls for (whether it is your clothes or your behaviour), unless you're making a statement.
However, if you're having to adapt yourself day-in, day-out, just to fit in, it's likely you're not listening well enough to who you are and what you stand for. Pretending to be an order muppet when you're really a chaos muppet, is not only tiring, but also isn't playing to your strength.
It's not better to be an order muppet than a chaos muppet. Or vice versa. It's time to stop hiding and show us what you've got.
