This is something that has been bugging me for quite some time now. Ever since I read one of Mea's responses on what a Shadow Jedi really is.
In the response she said that each Shadow has there own perspective on what it is to be part of the Shadow. No two people that follow the Shadow path view it in the same way. This wasn't really all that surprising because I would think that it would be basically the same thing for pretty much everyone, regardless of what path they follow within the academy or outside of it.
What really got me was the fact that I believe it was said that each Shadow works singularly as an individual and only as an individual, singular unit. Not as a group.
While these singular Shadows may work towards a common goal, but not really together as a joint group. However I might have misinterpreted the meaning of the post, and/or forgotten some aspects of it being that I read it some time ago.
Having become awfully wolfish in the past little while, especially after a certain spell that I cast to calm the wolf within so that it wouldn't rip me apart. Yet at the same time it drew the wolf to the surface, thus directly effecting my personality more so then before.
Because of this I have sorta adopted some pack mentality that at some times freaks the hejebies out of me. So I relate more so to an order as a group, working together on all things. For common goals. For the survival of the pack and so on. Something like the Musketeers motto of, "All for one, and one for all." Each and everyone within the pack will fight to keep the pack as a whole going, and the whole pack will help fight a battle for the one. However if it is a battle of honor, that is something different all together.
So because of this the singular was of how the Shadow work sorta throws me for a loop.
I would like to hear everyone's view on this...
Arithion
The meaning I believe was more along the lines of we have different interpretations varying from person to person, while this does not mean we do not work in a group, actually we overlap our thoughts as much as possible to keep ourselves cohesive and adapting. It also allows for individuality within the group. We aren't clones. There's something Shinobi said ,"diversity within unity" which fits here I believe.
Sauron
I think Sauron's got that one right. I know that I have a lot of opinions that other shadows don't exactly agree with me on, and they have their own which I may not agree with. In that way we are very individual. Though we do have all of these things keeping us different, we still are drawn pretty close together in a lot of cases, it seems. I know that when I've been down there's always been someone right there to help me back up and I know that I've also done that for others.
Rogue Ace
We do have the group stuff...You know me Ufie, I am not a loner and could never stand to be such. I think the individuality is referring to they "know thyself" point. No one else can know you, only you can do that. You have to do that on your own, hence it is an individual task. There are benefits from both individuality and group mentality and I think we try to harness the benefits of them both.
Take Care and be mindful.
Colin
I don't know if this fits along with the previous responses, but some thoughts along these lines:
Yes, the shadows are individual in line of thought. Some try to be group-ish, most do actually, in a way. But sometimes it's not a unified group. More like different "cliques"
Kageshin
Yes, I can agree that whenever you need someone to talk to. You will almost always find an ear willing to listen here in the chats, on ICQ, AIM or whatever program you are using. However I would relate to that quality to the whole academy in general and not just within the Shadows. A lot of tightly knit friendships have been formed here over the course of my time here. Mostly because we will often spend a lot of time here, the Force Academy being our second address for some of us here.
However in my opinion there is a slight difference between a closely knit group of friends and a group or order that works towards singular goals and purposes together, working together as an efficient group of people. Colin's reply is sorta what I expected. It seems to me that the Shadows are more of just friends then an actual organized order here at the academy.
I have never really seen all of the Shadows get together and work towards one singular objective. All of the work that I have seen done here by the Shadows is done pretty much by one individual or another. The only real example I have seen of any form of group work would be the Shadow Corpus Cannon and the main outline of the Shadow Training program. But even then the brunt of the work was done by just one person.
It seems to me that everyone within the Shadows works pretty much individually and alone. Even though all of these people are working towards what they think will benefit the Shadow as a whole.
I might be seeing it this way because I am not within wither the Shadow Council or in the Shadow Training program. I am simply looking at the Shadows from the outside rather then the inside. And as thus my view might be slightly different from a person who walks within the Shadows.
It just makes me wonder if the Shadows are just a bunch of friends that know of the Force and are passing on there knowledge between each other. Or are they a group that works together as a sturdy and strong order of the Force.
However because the academy is virtual and everyone is scattered across all over the place I guess it would be hard to actually work together on something. The fact that on the most part each Shadow is the only one in his or her area makes the possibility of conferring with each other in person and working together much more harder.
Arithion
Well as most of us know, each and all of the councils are going through some stuff at the moment. There are some things that need changing and some things that need keeping. For instance from what I see the Dark side have now started to form a structural hierarchy as they induct new apprentices, the light side say that they are all working together etc but I have seen things to indicate otherwise. Details are not needed. There are two possible ways to go, either develop a hierarchy or stay as a community where we are all as much as each other. I would opt for the latter although I do see a need for increased communication and coordination, I myself need to work on that.
The way that ufie sees it as a group of friends is good because we all respect each other the same and will all work together, we just need to make sure that we do :0)
Take Care and be mindful.
Colin