Greetings!!
The paths toward syntony are diverse; as diverse as each one of us. The syntony quest is a search for meaning, authenticity, and purpose in life. It involves learning all the time, being willing to cast off assump= tions, to embrace a new vision, to live a more natural life. In the middle of the cry for more violence, for more material things, for less responsibil= ities, for easy answers, it is always refreshing to find individuals committed to promoting life-affirming choices, to live more simply, to act consciou= sly, to ask big questions, to create more opportunities for present and future= generations. This is the case of Rachel Lueke, our guest contributor for this issue of The Path. As a woman and a mother, she is engaged in a purp= oseful inquiry on the role of integral learning in helping us, individually and collectively, to see beyond the shallow reality of our contemporary Weste= rn civilization. Rachel is a wonderful example of someone starting to work from within and the implications of her thinking and acting continue to expand beyond her personal life as to embrace her family as well as all of humanity. May her example be another stimulus for each of us to contin= ue our own syntony quest.
In syntony,
Kathia & Alexander Laszlo
Elusive force
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We want to hear from you...=Elusive Force: Seeing beyond
by Rachel Luek= e
dalrich@airmail.netEver since I can remember I have had a sense that there is some intang= ible, elusive force that binds us together. As a child I perceived the force as sovereignty to live our lives in a way that is profound and meaningful= or in a way that we could be authentically happy. This authentic happines= s simply meant to me being free to live in accordance with what feels natur= al. I just sensed that there were so many contradictions to nature and human nature in our society.
Sometimes I feel as though the circumstances of my experiences, and simply the progression of an evolving awareness, has been to serve some greater purpose. I feel consistently compelled to "see" beyond what we are expected to see. As if life and living should not be sacrificed to some contrived or altered state of existence. To me, there is some process of mental conditioning that keeps us all from "seeing" the truth,= the reality behind the façade. I don't know what the truth is.&nbs= p; It's just a sense that it is there and it is worth pursuing. It is not about finding an answer but about learning about a process. A process tha= t brings about the realization of an authentic reality, not one that is sup= erficial or illusory. The illusory reality keeps us in a mutually exclusive existe= nce with human nature, the natural environment, and the nature of our interco= nnectedness, not allowing us to honor these states. I am learning every day how to "se= e" and to understand the difference between illusion and the untapped potent= ial of an authentic reality.
Most people blame themselves, assume they do not fit or cannot fulfill= their true potential due to their own unfortunate genetic inheritance or the vicissitudes of circumstance that determined their social and economi= c birthright. Many people do not look out and question the human made influ= ences and constructions that condition their lives. They don't ask what the elu= sive force is that determines how they should live, what their goals should be, what is expected of them, or what authority sets the standards for what is considered to be good or normal.
With the birth of my first child, the scope of seeing grew, and so did= the sense of urgency. Before, the benefit of "seeing" was for myself. I now had a responsibility to an innocent child, born without the knowledge= of an external existence other than their authentic state of being. How could I protect them from being indoctrinated into the world of illusion,= where the forces that maintain the illusions would determine their develo= pment, rather than being determined by their own authentic proficiencies? How do I help them become true selves, authentic selves, when I myself am sti= ll trying to see beyond my own conditioning?
In January 1998 I watched a news program about a heroin epidemic in Plano, Texas - "the affluent community," All America City ( their slogan) - whose teens were dropping like flies. The parents being intervi= ewed were asked how often they thought about their deceased son. The reply was= , "not so often now because we are so busy working, but at the end of the day when we are going home it really hits us." Gee, I wonder why the chil= dren are turning to drugs! Our children are not by-products for society to con= sume while the parents are busy working. We expect the schools and day care centers to raise our children as well as groom them to become productive cogs in the wheel of society, just like their parents. I don't want to feed my children to our society or the schools that mold them for it. I want my children to develop an understanding of life and of their inheren= t capabilities - beyond those determined by a standardized test.
As I began researching education, schooling, and learning, I began to form a synthesis of all my experiences up to that point. All my feelings,= senses, and inquiries for so long began to make sense; they began to serv= e a purpose. It began on behalf of my children and it grew. As a moth= er I became more aware of our social institutions, I became more concerned with politics, business, consumerism, media, the environment, community, and education. The sense I had when I was younger began to be affirmed as an adult. My observations became deeper, the scope broader, and I bega= n to see patterns. My sense of urgency grew as I could "see" more clearly the assault on everything in its natural state. I could see the manipulat= ion, and the repercussions of the manipulation not just in objects but in peop= le. I began to feel so compelled, not just for my children, but for all of us, to find out how we got to this point, to see beyond what we are expec= ted and conditioned to see, to find out how so many people collectively conce= ded to a state of existence so un-natural and incongruent with everything we inherently know and feel.
I believe that, someday in the future, we will look back at today with= the same perplexion at our incomprehensible behavior as we do when we scr= utinize generations before us. We can look back in astonishment at how barbaric people used to be, where those who did not conform to social ideologies of the time were labeled heretics and witches, to be burned at the stake.= We are amazed at times when public hangings in the street for the whole family to see were an accepted form of punishment. Remember when our medi= cal profession routinely performed lobotomies for any assortment of behaviora= l problems? How do you look at the generation of only 40 years ago when blacks and whites were segregated, and people were shamed into enter= ing by back door, or riding in the back of the bus? What about the generation= that accepted commercials where to be a good wife was portrayed to be at the door ready to serve your husband with a cup of brewed coffee when he comes home from a hard day of work? I could go on with examples of the many times we look back and wonder how so many people could go along with= such behavior, how simple common sense seemed to evade everyone. Wasn't there anyone who spoke out or was aware of the ignorance? There will be a time I feel when we look back at today with the same perplexity. I want= to be one of the names that get mentioned years later among the crusaders= who fought for the great social change and awareness, and who, in times of retrospect and recovery, are recognized for bringing us closer to a more humane humanity. Not because I feel I have that ability or credibili= ty, but because I sense that something of a similar proportion of incomprehen= sible behavior is occurring and I do not want myself, or my children, to be los= t in the veil of ignorance. I am trying to follow my common sense that lead= s me down that sliver of a path along with the minority that is fighting for the benefits of the majority.
I believe that we have limited the capacities of people to develop a knowing within the mind, body, and spirit. Therefore, peoples' actions as adults (or children) do not reflect a depth of knowing that pertains to a holistic existence. People do not behave according to what they inhe= rently know, but according to what they have been conditioned to know. People do not have the skills to learn with flexibility in an environment of con= stant change, because their only experience of learning, they are told, takes place in a controlled environment we call "school."
If we become the designers, creators, inventors, wouldn't we benefit from an innate knowledge of an authentic reality, not just of the contriv= ed or altered reality? People don't know how to learn, imagine, and perceive= outside the box of conditioning that they believe is the expert and only pertinent knowledge needed to survive. People seem to look at the benefit= s of education in all the various conditions of our existence for economic,= business, and technological purposes, but they do not seem to be willing to look at the flip side, which is the pervasion of degradation that such= a short sighted and limited awareness has on our sustainability.
I do not know how to express the magnitude or importance I feel the actual process of learning has on how we, as a species, exercise and enac= t our capabilities to create our reality. Either it is a reality that honor= s the authentic nature of our ecological system and ourselves or it is a reality that alters our ecosystem and us as individuals. We do not unders= tand, nor do we learn how to honor, the authentic - only the human made constru= ctions and interpretations created from a limited basis of knowledge.
I believe that by honoring our authentic nature we can create environm= ents that foster everyone's intrinsic learning abilities. I can easily visuali= ze how I could do this by homeshcooling my children. I can clearly see the opportunities my children would have to create their own knowledge and have true cognitive understanding of their learning capabilities. What we need is to design the systems, the learning communities, so that anyon= e can experience the benefits and freedoms of authentic self-directed and collaborative learning. As we visualize future evolutionary learning envi= ronments we need to determine what exactly we have to contend with and where there= might be opposition to change.
We can't change the whole of society, working from the top down, tryin= g to change the structures of our institutions such as the government, corp= orations, economic structures, belief systems, and so on. What we can do, how= ever, is infiltrate these systems over time, creating new social values through= people who have a greater, more holistic, understanding of themselves and= of our environment.
&nbs= p; = ; = &= nbsp; ***** ***** *****
For learning and dialogue about how each of us can be the change we wish to see in the world, please join us at www.communityzero.com/syntonyquest
According to Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson [1], as of 2000, there are 50 million adults in the US who are "Cultural Creat= ives" (and there are probably about 80-90 million Cultural Creatives in the Eur= opean Union as well). This means that there is a growing segment of the populat= ion hungry for transformation in their lives, interested in more health, less= things, more meaning, and respect for the earth and its diversity.
The emergence of cultural creatives brings with it a demand for ecolog= ically sustainable products and services, authenticity and spirituality in life,= and women=92s perspectives in the public sphere. [2]
The new industry of lifestyles of health and sustainability is emergin= g and it's $230 billion US and $540 billion worldwide operation has as its entire market the cultural creatives. [2]<= /a>
Mainstream media just covers the news that fit their sensationalistic and short-term interests. Cultural creatives are interested in news from a different perspective, seeing the big picture, hearing personal stories= , and learning about good news, too. [2]= The internet offers many alternative media coverage options, such as:
http://www.goodnewsbroad= cast.com
http://www.positivepress.com=
http://www.newsforthesoul.c= om
http://www.goodnewsagency.c= om
http://www.wisdommedia.com=
http= ://www.sfdotcomdirectory.com/unity/positive.htmlThe growth of the nonprofit sector, dedicated to address issues of jus= tice, peace, health, education, sustainability, and so on, goes hand in hand with the emergence of the cultural creatives.
It looks like the nonprofit world is growing in importance as well as in weight! Based on a study of 22 countries, including the US, Japa= n, Israel, European countries and Latin-American countries, nonprofit expend= itures average 4.6% of the GDP and nonprofit employment is nearly 5% of all nona= gricultural employment. Excluding religious congregations, the nonprofit sector= is $1.1 trillion industry that employs close to 19 million full-time equi= valent paid workers. If the nonprofit sector in these countries were a separate national economy, it would be the eighth largest economy in the world, ahead of Brazil, Russia, Canada and Spain. [3]
[1] Ray, P. and Anderson, S.R. (2000= ). The Cultural Creatives: How 50 million people are changing the world. New= York: Harmony Books.
[2] http://www.culturalcreatives.org/faq.html
[3] Salamon, Lester M., et. al. = Global Civil Society: Dimensions of the Nonprofit Sector. Baltimore, MD: Joh= ns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, 1999.
Does change happens to you or through you?
Are you living your life in the most fulfilling, most meaningful, mos= t healthy, and most sustainable way?Whatever your current situation is, you can always do something about bringing more syntony into your life. Here, we offer some guidelines for you to create your life design, your personal syntony quest, so that you can start moving in the direction of your ideals:
Step 1. Fantasize your future
If you could be anything you wanted to be ten years from now, what wou= ld you be? Now, imagine ten years have suddenly flown by and the futur= e is now. What are you doing today? Think in terms of these dimension= s:
- intellectual/professional dimension
- health/nutrition dimension
- the social/interpersonal dimension
- spiritual/intrapersonal dimension
- religious/transcendental dimension
This process helps you paint a portrait of the life you wish to lead. The syntony is internal, and yet, if it is well balanced and dynamically in tune such that the balance among the 4+ dimensions (becaus= e not everybody has an active religious dimension in their lives) is respon= sive to (and creatively influences) the socio-physical environment in which you live, then it will also be in syntony with your world and with your planet.Step 2. Identify your motivational passion<= /font>
Try to think about the themes and topics that always capture and hold your attention. Think in terms of issues, topics, events, experiences, courses, projects and activities that you have both enjoyed and been chal= lenged by. Start to write these things down and when you have some ten or twenty= words in your list, look at what it tells you. What you are looking= for is consistency. Do the items on your list have a common theme that ties most of them together? Not all of the passions you have identif= ied will be linkable, but that doesn't matter. What you are looking for= are the broad themes. The point is that you can align your personal and professional development so that it is in syntony with your potential to fulfill yourself while at the same time keeping your life in balance (whi= ch is an other aspect of syntony).
Step 3. Portray your present
In this step you do exactly what you did in step 1, except that this time don't evaluate your life ten years from now, evaluate it as it is today. Go through the 4+ dimensions and create a realistic portrait= of the balance (or lack thereof) that characterizes your current style of life.
Step 4. Identify the gaps and make commitme= nts for change
So what do you end up with after going through all this? You end= up with a rich picture of what your ideal potential-filling future is and= a basis for comparing it with your life as it is at present. You need to take the results of step 1 and compare them to the results of ste= p 3. Are they different? If so, what are the dimensions that need more attention? How can you work back from the ideal image you= created so that you can gradually approximate it in the years to come?&nb= sp; By creating a positive image of a future state toward which you can move,= you set up your own personal life attractor. Do a "gap analysis" to determine the areas in which your current life style is heading you away from, rather than toward, that attractor, you can see what tendencie= s and what habits you need to work on to bring'em in line! Your motivationa= l passion should be the energy to start the change process.
[adapted from Chapter 33: 'Getting Personal' of Alexan= der Laszlo's book manuscript, "The Syntony Quest: Evolutionary vision for cha= nge in your world"]
In syntony with the work of our dear friends Juanita Brown and David Isaacs of the World Café on "conversations that matter," Syntony Quest is catalyzing consciousness raising conversations around the world.= In the last months Syntony Quest has traveled to, and initiated purposefu= l conversations in, the US, Mexico, Switzerland, Greece, China and Japan. And many other virtual conversations are currently underway with people in Hawaii, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Peru. Some of the topic= s being explored include: learning to engage in dialogue, how to create evo= lutionary learning communities, the emergent role of business in sustainable develo= pment, and educational transformation.
If you would like to sponsor a purposeful conversation in your organiz= ation or community, we would be delighted to help you. Or join us in a virtual conversation at http://www.communityzero.com/syntonyquest
Support us with a donation!! You can send us your gift by mail (cheks or money orders payable to SYNTONY QUEST, 1761 Vallejo St., Suite 302, San Francisco, CA 94123) or you can donate online HERE :-)
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http://www.buyforcharity.com=Please email us with any comment, question or suggestion. If you would= like to contribute an article for The Path e-mission, let us know!
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Syntony Quest is a 501= (c)(3) nonprofit organization seeking to
catalyze learning processes that empower individuals and groups to
develop the competencies necessary for the co-creation of sustainable=
and evolutionary futures.
USA: 1761 Vallejo Street, Suite 302, San Franc= isco, CA 94123
Phone/Fax: ++415/346.1547
Mexico: Santiago Roel 2757 AltaVista Lomas Monterrey, N.L. 64740
Phone/Fax: +52-81/8400.3431
&nbs= p; = ; info@SyntonyQuest.org
= ; = http://www.SyntonyQuest.orgThe Path: Action-sparking ideas of today for tomorrow
is a publication of Syntony Quest © 2002.
The ideas expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the organization,
but rather of the individuals who contributed to this issue.
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