An evergreen Development; a Work in progress
The process of a journey guided by direction rather than led by destination
Focusing on what we bring and how it is we show up
Focusing on what we bring and how it is we show up
By Dani Townsend
Word bankEvergreenlike a 'living document' implies work that is constantly be revised, renewed or is self-renewed. Metaphorically speaks to the evergreen trees, to which are green in all four seasons earning it a symbolic title of being immortal and seen to have a longevity.
DevelopmentThe Center for Global Development defines this as carrying this notion of lasting change. That it ' consists of more than improvements in the well-being of citizens- it also conveys something about the capacity of economic, political and social systems to provide the circumstances for that well-being on a sustainable, long-term basis.'
CDG continue by saying that development is not the sum of the characteristics of individual parts (emergent property) but rather the consequences of how the individual parts interact with one another, Meaning development is 'a system-wide manifestation of the way that people, firms, technologies and institutions interact with each other within the economic, social and political system.' www.cgdev.org/blog/what-development Owen Bardar speaks about adaptation and co evolution, the mechanisms that lends to systematic change and self organized complexity, that is development (below is the podcast Development Drums featuring Owen Bardar) ProgressMovement onward to a higher, better, more advanced stage. A remembrance to where we once were, an understand of where we are and a continued momentum to a goal where we aspire to be.
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as above so below; as within so without- Hermes trismegistus
as Taken from Hermes Trismegistus 7 principles- this idea reflects the interconnectedness between our internal worlds with our external worlds. Whether you decide to examine this from a microcosm lens of an individual or a few, to a macrocosm of a society or the world at large, everything has a relationship and interacts with one another. Seeing this as a truth, I chose to breakdown my journey and my current process of what type of work it is that I am actively trying to pursue and cultivate through a mind, body, spirit perspective. I chose to frame it in this context for a few reasons. First, regardless of our personal values and beliefs of what weight each hold, we can agree that we are composed of all three. Second, in its own interconnectedness- you can not separate one from another without causing an imbalance that then creates an effect on the other (including that of its environment). In my gravitation towards community engagement and work, it is very much about seeing it as a whole organism. You cannot separate or remove one part of a process in building or maintaining healthy relationships, just as you can't separate one idea of identity without understanding it as an entirety. By focusing on these three individually we are going to be able to see how they interact and best support one another in creating a healthy and holistic intentions.
Though I can't give you my experiences, I can share with you moments that changed the way I experienced at all. I chose to share a lot of story based learning or lessons of my accord as well as that of such stories that inspired me and challenged my truths and perceptions. In a lot of these visuals and conversations you see examples of all three- mind , body and spirit,come alive and they lend the opportunity for the reaction to invoke the same in you.
As the name of this implies- this too is a work in progress. In that it will never be finished, but it will be complete and whole just the same. I thank you for sharing in my process of understanding my journey as I come to understand it and I hope that it speaks to you in a way that aids you in your own.
I hope that we cross paths in the process but until then welcome to mine.
Though I can't give you my experiences, I can share with you moments that changed the way I experienced at all. I chose to share a lot of story based learning or lessons of my accord as well as that of such stories that inspired me and challenged my truths and perceptions. In a lot of these visuals and conversations you see examples of all three- mind , body and spirit,come alive and they lend the opportunity for the reaction to invoke the same in you.
As the name of this implies- this too is a work in progress. In that it will never be finished, but it will be complete and whole just the same. I thank you for sharing in my process of understanding my journey as I come to understand it and I hope that it speaks to you in a way that aids you in your own.
I hope that we cross paths in the process but until then welcome to mine.
Mind
& you'd think a starting place would come quicker- Here we start with the mind. The mind is going to represent foundation and internal world. Starting as an individual contributing to a larger collective. We start here because it is important to attempt to see what shaped our convictions, our beliefs, our aspirations. What influences, motivates, holds us back, empowers and disempowers. In understanding the source of our thought we can see how we internalize and process the external world that in turn shapes it. It can be seen as both the lens and the filter. It can be both unconscious and conscious ways in which you're navigating the world.
Here our sense of identity of self and our identity in relation to others lives. Here we can evaluate:
It is our mission statement, objectives, goals. When you think of the mind think of it as assumed identity, the spark, the when. Though I believe any journey should begin with self, it doesn't always start this way. And in my opinion if that journey had a beginning it would be in soul and spirit. But as we grow and learn we develop first in the mind a sort of distance from that beginning space, as a means of protection. Eckhart Tolle calls this our personality (the limited sense of 'I') and we can also think of it as our ego. And this resides in the mind. It took me awhile ( and is still in practice today) to understand how I can better serve others, is I've had to learn how to better serve myself. I hear the idea sometimes, 'how can you help others if you can't help yourself?' or ' you can't give what you don't have.' I've seen both those ideas as truth while holding on to the notion of putting yourself first and doing work for you as being selfish. That is an example of something that in my life, was taught and adopted that didn't best serve me. This has meant a lot of shadow work and compassion when dealing with underdeveloped parts of me and really sitting with uncomfortable ideas and beliefs I've had. Ensuring that I can advocate, empower, and not limit my own actions allows me to help others facilitate that within themselves.
In how I think about myself, I've had to breakdown whose voice is it that tells me that is me. Are these perceptions or expectations I've adopted as self based on roles I played, standards society deemed, or how I've held the feelings others invoked in me and internalized that as my truth. I've had to examine the lens and filter I have of myself based on these assigned ideas. I've also had to examine how others lens and filters perceive me. On sight, I read as a white cis woman. Each of those separate identities hold a different space and weight based on the beliefs and thoughts we've upheld with them. So I have to think of how I navigate in my whiteness, what privileges that awards me and doesn't others. In my femininity of how I'm seen or heard (or not) and what that means in the space I'm awarded. Another radical shift in my mind has been in realizing that everything that I think and believe is MY interpretation of MY own perceived reality. And just like for me, so is someone else's. Meaning we can both come to the same relative idea of a truth, but have completely different experiences and movements that lead us to come to that conclusion. And so this reality is valid, but so is the one for the person who came to a different ending, because it is true to how they have interpreted it. We all just have reacted differently. A lot of what my mind work is observation and reaction. Trying to be in better practice of when I receive information - whether it is a critique, statement, how I am received or rejected and what emotion that may cause within me and just being still. Unpacking it but without a reaction. Allowing my mind to be the catalyst for reflection so that when I do utilize body, I am doing so mindfully. "You are not your thoughts. You are the space for your thoughts. |
https://publiceyemaritzburg.co.za/41309/super-student-winter-school/
Mindfulness is the ability to know what's happening in your mind at any given moment without being carried away by it. Vulnerability is the birthplace of creativity, innovation, and change It takes a lot to define who we are. That process of self definition that is a process of our identity formation at this moment has created a situation where the burdens of the self have never been heavier. And many of you are spending your time wondering: what am I? who am I? Am I what I want to be? Am I where I want to be? Is this good enough? Can I be more? Can I be better? There's a reason the self help movement is as powerful as it is, because it feeds an entire frenzy of individual people who are longing for individual pursuits but ultimately to connect to other people. Emotional intelligence is born through an education on:
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The best tool we can cultivate is relational self-awareness. There are two questions you can ask: Do you have a sense of how you act, how you are perceived, and the role that you play on your team? Do you understand the fundamental importance of complementarity in relationships? That notion of complementarity is that you can be what you are and do what you do, because there’s somebody else that is doing the other things that you’re not doing. Communication always matters, but communication doesn’t just mean talking and saying things; it’s defined by your ability to accept different opinions and not turn everything into a black and white or right and wrong [situation].
- Esther Perel
body
https://canyonvista.com/dance-movement-therapy-in-addiction-recovery/
I leaned into it You know the interconnectivity again and we go back to this same thing of how it all comes down to relationships, to place, to paying attention, to staying, to listening, to learning of a heightened curiosity with other. And we can go the route of love of other or we can go the route of fear. And I think too often we go the route of fear and we shut down. Because if we open up to love, we are going to get hurt and we are going to get angry... Gatherings at their best allow us to be among others, to be seen for who we are and to see." |
I wish sometimes that I had a better sense of recall of all those who have inspired me to live or behave differently, what they specifically said or did to cause my own movements to be shifted. But without the specific line, I still seem to move with muscle memory to what it is they said or taught. I hope that I can better paraphrase their words with my actions. I think of this when I think of body. I think of how is it that I am embodying what it is that I am intending to do. It is how I am translating my thoughts to the world with action.
It is conversation, implementation and integration. Think of the body in this section both as
Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity. '
3 steps to turn everyday get-togethers into transformative gatherings | Priya ParkerTo create more meaningful everyday gatherings --
* Embrace a specific disputable purpose. * Cause good controversy. (Heat-- a core ingredient of meaning; burning relevance. Human connection is as threatened by unhealthy peace as unhealthy conflict.) * Pop up rules --one time only constitutions for a specific purpose. (Unspoken norms are trouble.) |
Every action, thought, and feeling is motivated by an intention, and that intention is a cause that exists as one with an effect. If we participate in the cause, it is not possible for us not to participate in the effect. In this most profound way, we are held responsible for our every action, thought, and feeling, which is to say for our every intention. We, ourselves, shall partake of the fruit of every intention. It is, therefore, wise for us to become aware of the many intentions...
The Seat of the Soul ; Gary Zukav pg. 23
spiritThe illusive spirit. The thing that we place on pedestals as the higher version of ourselves. Rather than acknowledging that version is our core. It doesn't live outside of you but it can be seen outside of you when you turn what you idealized and dreamed in to what you actualize and do. It is purpose. If mind is mission statement, spirit is the mission or the vision. If body is the stoking to hearth, spirit is the motivation to keep the fire burning and the flame the soul. Think of spirit as the why. Spirit is the will and the way. The reason we continue, the reason we show up. The bonds between people who know one another and bridges of those who don't. It can be felt in the mind as an inner knowing, insight, reassurance and stillness in the mind, if you were religious maybe as faith but this overall trusting without reason other than 'it'. It can be felt in the body as inclination, a gut feeling, fullfillment, hunger/or desire, a pull or push towards a direction. It is seeing and celebrating the differences but understanding the thread that connects us all to a share fate. It is having reverence for the individual and a drive to create an egalitarian society that honors that belief. It is a shared responsibility. It is a collective we. With my own spirit, there has always been called to do some kind of work that serves. Over the years it has manifested to look like a lot of different ways of showing up and I am sure it will continue to shift and mold as I do. I haven't known the how or the what for certain but I have always trusted my why and my purpose. Lately it looks like stepping into my power while being submissive to what I cannot control. It has been doing a lot of inner work on myself so that when I do show up, I am the most authentic and intentional version. It has meant letting go of old beliefs and less serving aspects of me so that I have less to clutter what might act as a barrier to what and who I am trying to work alongside
I am constantly practicing not clinging on the specificity and the what and remember that - receiving a single answer of 'what it is' I am going to do probably will never be my truth. It also means a lot of active listening and reflection both to where I am being guided to what is being asked from others. |
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It is a leap of faith. If you had to know before then you will never trust. The act of trust is the engagement with that which you don't know for sure
[Esther Perel]
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