It's a Technical Thing (Me)

I'm always looking for a good analogy to explain what being a multiple is like, and last night I came up with one that I'd like to try out. It began when I was reading a book about another multiple, and something struck me that should have been obvious, if only I'd thought of it that way. This multiple had dozens and dozens of alters, and was explaining that all alters are not equal. Some are full-fledged personalities with memories and opinions and plans and dreams and friendships. But some alters are less filled-out. They exist to serve a particular function and then fade back into place until the next time they are needed.

These single-purpose alters are like utility programs on your computer. Like Notepad, or Calculator, they serve some simple function for a short period of time, and then you close them and they go away. Until you need them again. I feel that Jarett may be a 'utility alter' - he drives the car; occasionally he looks at women. But he rarely takes full control and thinks and feels. Lynn could be considered a utility program as well; she rarely operates without another alter co-conscious; she advises and guides.

But what about the others? If the single-purpose alters are utility programs, what are they? And it hit me... they are Operating Systems. And the analogy holds. Most people have one major personality - like a computer that boots to this O/S or another. But some computers can dual-boot, or can run one O/S over the shell of a different one. The computers I support at my job do something like that - they are running a DOS-based program in a Linux shell. From the user's viewpoint, you can't tell any difference between the DOS program and the Linux one.

I can boot to Rubi or Sam or Kiara or Me. Usually, though, I'll run on a shell of Me with Rubi or Sam or Kiara running in the front, where it's in use, but ready to be dropped at need back to just Me. At need, I can pull up the Counselor/Lynn program, or run the Jarett utility. I'm not sure, yet, but for now I guess I'd put Cherish down as a utility program as well.

Does that make Silent One a System Error?