self expression

[Erica Hollander]

  Rebecca, yes, I too have seen people who are labeled as sociopathic  
or psychopathic bloom in the light of the group's caring.   But some  
stuff just should not be done, you know?  Maybe I should put it in  
the contrary form and ask whether anyone ever works to keep self  
expression from occurring?  If so, when and why?  We put limits on  
what can be done in dramas, of course, to prevent people getting hurt  
or working out suicidal  or homicidal plans.  That is one category of  
example.  I have also seen protagonists who were pre-scripted be re- 
directed to other paths of exploration, seen as more spontaneous,  
more in the moment.  Are there other examples?  But what I really  
want to know is why is all this good for us at all?  Are we getting  
to the core of things, as Georgian suggests?  Or are we creating new  
selves as we rehearse our futures?  Or sometimes something else  
altogether?  erica