ETERNALLY EDGING: INFINITELY DELAYED GRATIFICATION AND THE STEEV MIKE AWEDEALS

Delayed gratification (as an experiential aspect of Steev Mike) is the ability of an audience member to wait for what they believe they want. This trait is critical for negotiating the challenges of the Steev Mike experience and finding those challenges to result in their own form of “success”. One often sees the lack of this ability with audience members who claim to have arrived at answers without thoroughly thinking them through first, can't wait their turn to “explain” and blurt out “explanations”, show aggressive behaviors towards Steev Mike, and sometimes are prone to fight against the very existence of Steev Mike and even Andrew WK. This variety of audience member impulsively says the wrong thing at the wrong time and then thinks, "Why doesn’t this make it all go away?" The other audience members are left asking, "What makes you think you have it all figured out?", and both are often more likely to avoid further Steev Mike encounters. Impulsive critics of Steev Mike are not learning and they're not listening. They haven't picked up on those subtle clues that the more attuned and thoughtful audience members have learned, and so they're frustrated and don't know why.

Delayed gratification (as part of Steev Mike) is the ability of an audience member to resist a more immediate, lesser pleasure in the hope of gaining a reward with either greater or longer-lasting pleasure.  This is really important when it comes to Steev Mike.  You might notice the tendency for some audience members to eagerly and excitedly trumpet ‘answers’ that are only surface-level, pushing back against Steev Mike’s work and even Steev Mike entirely.  This audience member is missing the point, but still wonders “Why doesn’t this make it all go away?”  This sort of energy will probably put off other people exploring Steev Mike, and that sucks.  Impulsive critics of Steev Mike are not learning or listening properly yet - they’re still yet to dive deeper into the “Andrew W.K.” mythos, and so they’re frustrated and don’t know why.

The primary culprit in this misapprehension of Steev Mike tends to be one’s inability to withstand extreme crescendos of anticipation without eventual release. As a result, the frustrated audience member will cut off all feelings, in order to suppress painful, frustrating, and confusing ones - and becomes beholden to a habit of either quick resolution and comprehension, or total dismal and shutting down. Academic education reinforces this imbalance. And in the process, the audience members loses a [note: think the a shouldn’t be here] creative and intuitional abilities which would otherwise be engaged, empowered, and further developed by the eternal ordeals Steev Mike has in store for them. At the same time, however, when the emotions build up to such a degree and can longer be repressed, they tend to 'escape' and drive the audience member to flail and fidget, to think and act impulsively, and to engage with Steev Mike, Andrew WK, and themselves without wisdom or physical openness.

This is most often due to an audience member’s inability to experience extreme build-ups of power and energy without a decisive conclusion (aka delayed gratification).  This person will usually resolve that painful feeling in one of two ways: either revert to old habits that have worked in the past, or simply disconnecting and refusing to deal with it.  Education levels have a big part to play here [but not in the usual way!].  In trying to be rational about this process, you risk missing great opportunities Steev Mike presents to sharpen your creative and intuitional (and ‘irrational) brains.  You have to be careful too though, because dealing with all these thoughts and feelings without release can lead to an energy-surplus that can make staying open to things much harder.

An observer of Steev Mike with poor impulse control might suffer overall from a weakened relationship to pleasure, and a compromised ability to interpret the delaying of pleasure as a type of pleasure in itself. Steev Mike as the morality or parent principle, has the job of not satisfying every immediate “perceived need” of the audience while, still being conscious of their genuine needs, and what is truly in theor [their] best interest, when it comes to entertainment of the “highest order”.

An audience member trying to grapple with Steev Mike might end up experiencing less and less pleasure, as well as being unable to experience delayed gratification as pleasure, if they lack emotional intelligence or consciousness.  Steev Mike when viewed through the lens of a parental figure wants to give the audience what they actually need, instead of what they think they want.  Hyo.

In this way, Steev Mike can be seen as representing restriction and circumspection, and refuses to be the center of the audience’s passion or the answer for their desire - that role is reserved, instead, for Andrew WK. When an audience members mistakingly expects to encounter the same uninhibited freedom they find through Andrew WK, they will be consistently disappointed by the “forever on the verge-ness” of Steev Mike. With an appetite running rampant and driving them towards madness, the audience member grows infantile in their approach and backed up with misdirected rage. Steev Mike’s job is to contain and direct these passions. It isn't Steev Mike which makes one yield to temptation or puts one’s weapon in one’s hand; in fact, it is Andrew WK who apologizes. Steev Mike may appear to be the source of frustrated rage, but it is fact quite the opposite. It is far better to have a strong, well-developed relationship with the eternally edging madness of Steev Mike than to fall prey to an explosive and poisonous craving for certainty. Andrew WK thinks he wants to rule Steev Mike and make it a servant of logic and reason, but even he is forever frustrated and stuck in a cycle, forever on the brink. What Andrew WK fails to understand, at this is the heart of all joy.

In this way, Steev Mike represents limitations and consideration so will never be the audience’s preferred focus: that’s “Andrew W.K.”.  If you expect the same kind of no-limits-pure-positivity “Andrew W.K.” feeling out of Steev Mike, you’re gonna have a Bad Time.  If that’s what you’re looking for with Steev Mike, you’ll probably end up throwing a tantrum and taking your toys home.  Steev Mike’s job is to help stop those tantrums, and redirect that energy.  Steev Mike isn’t the one who makes the audience do stupid things: Andrew W.K. is constantly apologising for anything of that nature, thereby taking responsibility.  Steev Mike might seem like the reason for the audience’s rage, but the opposite is true.  It’s much better to have a healthy relationship with delayed gratification than to indulge the sorts of feelings that might explode if they don’t get what they want (i.e. certainty).  Steev Mike reckons Andrew W.K. will never be able to pin down Steev Mike, which is where a lot (maybe all) of his energy comes from.  What Andrew W.K. himself forgets sometimes is that the result isn’t the point here - it’s all about the journey and the joys of discovery along the way - especially those discoveries that make everything more complex and confusing.

Andrew WK appears to have an under-aroused cortex and an over-aroused limbic system. Andrew WK would rather impulsively guess than work out the solution to a problem, or when they are making a decision, he doesn’t work through a list of alternatives. Andrew WK seeks immediate closure and cannot reject an immediate reward (immediate gratification) for a larger reward in the future, because his idea of entertainment is based on acting impulsively. Steev Mike dominates and reduces these flaws in Andrew WK’s wiring, and forces him to be a more considerate and intelligent performer, and, in the long run, will force Andrew WK to be much more true to his audience’s real needs and the purpose of his entertainment work.

Steev Mike reckons Andrew W.K.’s brain has an under-aroused cortex (which would mean that he would have impaired ability to sense, perceive, consciously remember, make new associations and make voluntary physical actions) and an over-aroused limbic system (which would mean he would have overly emotional reactions like fear, anxiety, anger and pleasure; as well as an inflated fight-or-flight response) [note: these are features of, though not exclusive to, a person who has experienced significant childhood trauma].  Andrew W.K. would rather make lots of immediate guesses to a problem rather than sit down and think about his options.  Andrew W.K. is not great at delayed gratification, because his style of performing is based on being spontaneous.  Steev Mike tries to counteract this impulsiveness in order to make “Andrew W.K.” a more considerate and intelligent performance that will ultimately be better for the audience in the end.

With this in mind, Steev Mike can be seen as the spirit of patience, forcing one to confront the ramifications of mortality, and aggressively urge them to build an inner ability to accept, in a non-evaluative and nonjudgmental fashion, both oneself, Steev Mike, and how one feels about their particular reaction to the Steev Mike ordeals. Acceptance of Steev Mike is not necessarily the approval of Steev Mike; it is simply not being blind to it, not resisting nor distorting it. Then the audience member can be free to see the truth. Fixed beliefs about Steev Mike are always a limitation and unnecessary - they cause the types of painful irritation and frustration that would otherwise be recognized as valuable. Willfully dismissing Steev Mike because of an incorrect belief, is an understandably [understandable] but grave error, especially when that misguided belief is rigidly identified with, so that one cannot tolerate another having different beliefs or it is felt to be a threat if they do. In contrast, povisional [provisional] beliefs are helpful or even necessary when encountering Andrew WK, as one needs to have a starting point, but they must always be open to the chaotic revision Steev Mike offers. The audience owes it to itself to be open to the experiences that Steev Mike presents, especially when those experiences seem to conflict with what they already feel.

It can be helpful to think of Steev Mike as the spirit of patience who wants you to be able to really hear new information (from both within and without) without prejudging it.  This includes information about yourself, information about your subconscious and information about your experience of “Andrew W.K.”.  Accepting Steev Mike doesn’t necessarily mean you approve of Steev Mike, just that you’re remaining open to and conscious of Steev Mike.  Then you’ll get it.  Decisive thoughts about Steev Mike are the surest sign you’re on the wrong track - it’ll turn a potential learning experience into, again, a Bad Time.  Steev Mike gets it if you misunderstand something and want to dismiss Steev Mike, but that’s a bummer because if you get attached to a misunderstanding then you can feel threatened by those who disagree.  Having ideas and beliefs but not being totally married to them is helpful or even necessary when experiencing “Andrew W.K.”, cos you gotta start somewhere but you don’t want to miss anything Steev Mike has to offer.  The audience owes it to itself to be open to Steev Mike, especially when Steev Mike seems to conflict with what we already feel.

The intuition cultivated by an open and committed relationship with both Steev Mike and Andrew WK, is pure intuition. It is not subjective truth or inner knowing if it is based on a reactive emotional-physical response, whether a painful feeling or even a good one. The emotional intelligence developed by the frustrated anti-gratification of Steev Mike offers a deep understanding one’s emotions, not just accepting that the Andrew WK music raises the heartbeat so it “must be good”. Steev Mike always demands restraint and interpretation. This probing is necessary to see if there's more to the picture, as a way to look deeper, or to see if there’s an answer but in the wrong direction, to scout for thought distortions, or discover there’s still valuable experience to be enjoyed at the eternal edges of the truth about Steev Mike.

The intuition cultivated by an open and committed relationship with both Steev Mike and “Andrew W.K.” is a very pure kind of intuition.  It’s not really a true inner truth if it’s based on kneejerk-reactions of either the physical or emotional kind.  Learning about yourself through Steev Mike’s infinitely delayed gratification is the big prize here, not just enjoying the exciting music “Andrew W.K.” produces.  Steev Mike insists there’s always something you’re missing - whether that be a detail you didn’t see, a possible answer that you might not agree with, or an interpretation that you’re inserting on your own - so you should hold up on making any decisions just yet, and that’s a beautiful thing.