Daily pages - September 03, 2021

One of the things I’m considering is combining the three centers and the three movements. They have always seemed a bit redundant to me, and I think we can discuss what they are, then mention that there are movements underway trying to move humanity in that direction:

Integrated Individuals <- Collective Actualization World That Works <- Design Revolution Flourishing Earth <- Global Regeneration

For Integrated Individuals, the forces at work are that individuality can be taken to an extreme, and in the U.S. in particular, there is the myth of the rugged individual who is independent and self-reliant. What I’m trying to emphasize using the word individual is that each of us is unique, and we want to emphasize that difference, that diversity because it makes us stronger. David Schmachtenberger talked about wanting to hold on to difference that we can combine synergistically with others, but let go of differences that do nothing but divide us.

So the fact that I’m a white male is not necessarily a useful distinction regarding my individuality, other than the fact that my experience as a white male can be contrasted with the experiences of those who are either non-white, non-male or both. I think some of the useful differences are that I’m a maker; that I grew up with strong women as an influence and have a different perspective than many white males; that I’ve studied the ideas of Buckminster Fuller for a long time; and that I’ve experienced being lied to at a kind of extreme and have grown from that experience.

It could be that identity is closely related to this, and there may be change vectors that move us from divisive differences toward synergistic differences:

nationality -> cultural identity citizen status -> citizenship (service to country, paying taxes) race -> skin color ?? gender -> gender identity sexual orientation -> ability to love

The other part of Integrated Individual is the “integrated” part. I think there’s are dual aspects of being integrated. First, I’m talking about being integrated in the sense of integral theory: being self-actualized, integrating knowledge in your personal universe as well as integrating knowledge of your conscious and shadow selves. I’m not really advocating for integral theory because I’m not certain of the quality of the theory, but the process of growing as a person and having personal integrity. To use some of Fuller’s metaphor, personal integrity is concave, internally directed and focused on self.

The other side of integration is convex, outwardly directed, and focused on others. This is about social integration: knowing how to work well with others, collaborative and cooperate, even if you disagree with them. Its being community focused, and not just concerned with what’s good for you.

If you look at the OODA loop or whatever I’m going to end up calling it, the process can be seen as a wave pattern (and Fuller used this imagery) that cycles between looking inward and expressing outward. We look outward to observe Universe, then look inward to orient and decide, then look outward again to act. As the cycle repeats, we are practicing both aspects of integration.

So the pattern calls for us to strive to be our true diverse and messy selves while constantly growing both inwardly and outwardly. The associated movement of Collective Actualization encompasses all those activities where people are working together to help each other grow in this way. These kinds of activities include psychotherapy, counseling, life coaching, 12-step programs, yoga, meditation, shadow work, authentic relating, dialogue, conflict resolution, and much more.

As for World That Works, that is a phrase I’ve use for a long time. It’s a short version of Fuller’s description of the World Game: “Make the world work, for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.”