Inhabiting an Old Dying Way as a New One Is Born

On the fractal nature of flows:

1. As systems transform, flows should stay open, unobstructed, for the transformation to complete.

2. If we are to be agents of evolution during this time of massive, systemic, collective transformation, one of our functions is to clear obstructions in evolutionary flows where they exist.

3. We can’t clear obstructions outside of ourselves if the obstructions exist within ourselves. These evolutionary flows are fractal.
   

   

   
   Stated differently, by clearing obstructions within ourselves, we help to clear them in the collective.

As the systems around us break down – systems of oppression, monetary systems, outdated cultural systems and their value structures, etc. – their breakdown makes room for new systems to come alive.

In order for new systems to come alive, the removal of the old systems needs to be seen through to the end. (Otherwise the seeds of those old systems will sprout anew in the next generations.) This means that wherever those old systems live within us, we have the opportunity to effect collective evolution by weeding our own internal landscapes fully of the old systems, pulling them up by the root.

It is possible to be understanding and compassionate with others who are not yet seeing the need to replace the old systems. It is possible to stay out of judgment (of others or ourselves,) and still proceed with our own weeding project. But it is a tricky dance.

I could probably write a few volumes on what not to do, what not to say, how not to be, when the inevitable interpersonal frictions arise as we do our own evolutionary work. Maybe because of this, I am eager to discover ways to clear the old systems from our own beings, while we are still operating partially within those old systems.

Please send along any resources, ideas, epiphanies, memes, or non-sequiturs you’ve got along these lines!