Early in our lives, the dominator/conformist model meaning perspective arrives in the form of a loving but meaning perspective driven parental figure, the caretaker. The child has taken the huge number of pieces and spread them in all kinds of ways all over her/his bedroom. Many things have happened in the mind and imagination of this child; the room has become a place of some wonder if not awe. The child has made the toy, and the space the toy entered came alive in ways unimagined a moment before the child opened the package. Whatever else the child has accomplished in this play, she/he has produced nothing like what the toy is meant to be. There's a picture on the box. There's a set of instructions. The child has diverged from the organized plan of the toy and what she/he is supposed to learn. The child has involved many other objects from the room and the room itself. The child feels power and beauty. The child sees and feels the power of creativity. The adult sees a mess.
The meaning perspective of this adult tends to cancel out many other loving feelings of "how cute" or "how beautiful," or "how creative" or even some admiration. Those rather low emotions or responses don't compete with the higher purpose we discussed earlier. This child has to grow up a responsible adult in the terms of "responsible adult" laid out by the higher purpose meaning perspective. Instead of speaking to the child in the loving tones that might first and primarily occur, this well meaning adult says, even if as gently as possible, that the child just has it wrong. Adults can find lots of ways to do this. The rather thoughtless appearing ways sound something like this: "What's wrong with you, anyways?" or "What a mess," or "Can't you get anything right?" We can imagine, or perhaps remember, how hard that would have come down on the child. It would feel somewhere well beyond a slap in the face. It would set off a tidal wave of pain through the very vulnerable child's desire for unconditional positive regard and even, in the case some little recognition for all the work and effort, for the self the child put into the construction. However, as with much creativity, the child has violated the rules of the game, and the rules of the game must be upheld for the higher purpose meaning perspective of order and the status quo.
The dominator voice can speak more gently and still accomplish the same message and the same blow. The adult could say, "I was afraid this toy was too old for you, so let me help you put it away, and I will show you how it works later." That sounds more gentle, but the effect still carries the same punch. The child has no idea that her/his age would interfere with what she/he understands about the world. The child felt and believed that she/he understood the toy perfectly and played with it beautifully. The adult expresses dissatisfaction with the child's performance and offers an excuse for the child's incompetence. When we think about this exchange, we can imagine identity forming and ego coming to its defense. The adult might simply say, "That's nice, honey. Just so long as you get it all put away before bedtime." This dismisses with a phrase what, for the child, represents her/his version of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The child may well feel confusion at why all this effort must be "put away before bedtime." What's so important and different about bedtime? There's plenty of room to sleep, and in the morning the child might continue with this project. At least the child can open her/his eyes and admire the artistry and power of her/his hands.
Order takes all precedence in the higher purpose meaning perspective. Neatness above all must prevail. If the child will grow into a responsible adult, she/he must understand and practice order. She/he must learn to follow the rules and structure as given to understand how the world works. Once the child understands all these disciplines, she/he might be ready to explore creativity.
By the time child learns all that, creativity of self would have probably fallen out of the child's meaning perspective. It would find replacement in an identity that denied such creativity, "I'm just not an art person," and an ego that would defend that position: "That art's okay, but I need to worry about more practical things." From the best of others' intentions, we find ourselves deprived of an unobstructed connection to our becoming self and more and more restricted by identity and ego.