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In the brilliant musical ‚ÄúCamelot”, the three main characters, King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot suffer the tragic consequences of desperately wanting what they do not really want.
Guinevere is a victim of her ego. In her first song she is a young girl who has been condemned to an arranged political marriage to King Arthur. She sings:
“Shall I not be on a pedestal,
Worshipped and competed for?
Not be carried off, or better still
Cause a little war?
Where are the simple joys of maidenhood?”
What Guinevere believes she wants is to be coveted, so coveted that nations would go to war for her.
Lancelot is lulled into a false sense of security by the high level of spiritual development he has achieved. In his introductory song he is on his way to seek admission to the fabled Round Table, bored by a life so perfect that he no longer feels challenged, Lancelot sings:
‚ÄúI’ve never strayed
From all I believe;
I’m blessed with an iron will.
Had I been made
The Partner of Eve,
We’d be in Eden still.”
What Lancelot believes he wants is to be tested, certain that he can meet any standard that is demanded of him.
Arthur is, perhaps, the saddest of all because he is the most self-aware of the three. When he first meets Guinevere, he tells her he never wanted to be king … until the moment that he saw her. Then, suddenly, he felt like he wanted not only to be king, but the most splendid king who ever reigned.
What Arthur believes he wants is to become a glorious monarch in order to win Guinevere’s admiration. What he has forgotten to want is to become a man she could love.
At the end of the play the three are standing on a field in France with Arthur and Lance’s armies about to tear each other apart over Guinevere. Their world is in tatters, despite each having gotten exactly what they asked for. Guinevere had not understood the real horrors of war when she asked for one. Lancelot had not understood that tests can sometimes actually be failed, with tragic consequences. Arthur had not understood that kings must sometimes take actions that break their hearts as men.
Wanting what they did not really want was the root of these characters’ tragedy. Wanting what we do not really want is the root of all tragedy.
The wish that is granted with disastrous results is a common motif in the traditional stories of humankind. (For a whimsical take on this motif, you might enjoy my story ‚ÄúThe Post-Modern Genie.” The Universe is an immense, benevolent Genie. When we ask for something with all our mind, all our heart, all our focus, the Universe will see to it that we get what we wish for. That is why it is crucial that we wish for only what we truly want.
Coaching is the most powerful instrument available today for creating wishes, intention, and focus. The Coach guides the Client in formulating the Quest-ions that will form the template for the Universe’s response to the Client’s wishes. That is an immense, and dangerous, responsibility. Wrong questions will result in the client wanting what they do not really want. Wrong questions can result in tragedy.
In my book, ‚ÄúIn Case of Emergency, Ask Question,” I go back two millennia to find the sources of ‚ÄúThe Perfect Question”, the one question that must form the root for any question tree that will result in wanting what we really want. This Perfect Question is an indispensable tool for Coaches as we help our Clients navigate the dangerous terrain of their lives.
Please join me soon for an Uncommon Conversation on ‚ÄúThe Perfect Question.”
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