Distinctions

Of course we have an explanation, a story, a narrative of what we’re up to, but what if for a moment you saw your life through the eyes of one of these people: what is really the center of your life?

I’m not blaming anyone here. We are thrown into a particular time and place. Most of us were born in the 20th century: a time of immense disruption (colonies became countries, efficient global travel became possible, technology brought unprecedented instant connection and news, the human population grew from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion, etc.); terrible human cruelty (170 million people killed in wars, the genocides of the Nazis and Pol Pot, the slaughtering of millions by Stalin and Mao); huge scandals in government, religions and business; and scientific theories (the spread of Darwinism, the ideas of Freud, Einstein’s relativity and quantum theory) that challenged centuries of old beliefs.

We were left wondering what we could trust, what was worth doing, whether there was any meaning anywhere.

Now in the 21st century we are surrounded by consumer culture (in the US alone we spend more than $1.2 trillion every year on unneeded products); huge natural disasters (tsunamis in Indonesia and Japan, earthquakes in China, typhoons in the Philippines, massive fires in Canada and the United States); unpredictable, horrific violence, countless situations of social injustice and more.

We can respond to these situations in many ways, including what is specified above: attending to “image management” and our survival. (By the way, “survival” here means just barely keeping going each day, moving from crisis to crisis and living perpetually in fight, flight, or freeze modes.)

But there is another human possibility, another human power. How about this?

“Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone’s task is unique as his specific opportunity to implement it.” — Viktor E. Frankl

Frankl learned this in a concentration camp, in some of the most degrading and dire surroundings any human being can be in. He did not require special elevated circumstances, comfort or ease to find what is essentially true about us.

And yet you and I are so caught up our day-to-day activities and lose the point of our lives.

Instead, we can bring a different kind of relationship a, different kind of interpretation to everything that happens. We can start now and don’t have to wait until things slow down, or until we have some grounding and certainty, or until we meet our financial goals, or until our children are safely out of university, or until …

Because I’m speaking about living so that we remember that we are always in the middle of our “concrete assignment that demands fulfillment.” Our life has a unique point—our calling, vocation, is ours alone, to be implemented and expressed just where we are, just now, in the midst of our relationships, conversations and circumstances.

Our culture doesn’t tell us this, and maybe we haven’t seen anybody modeling it so far.

Nonetheless, you have undoubtedly felt, at least on some occasions, the deep currents of connection and meaning that underlie and course through our everyday lives and have known the sense of fulfillment, belonging, meaning and serenity present there.

Our life can have a center but only when we open to it and cultivate it. Otherwise we will get caught in the ubiquitous undertow of consumerism, survival fears, image management.

Perhaps as you read this you can pause for a moment and listen to your heart, check in with your body, cast your mind back to those moments of touching the deep currents.

What is calling you?

Maybe you have a sense of your vocation and it certainly is possible and quite common that you don’t. That’s perfectly okay. A place to start finding it is telling the truth about what is the current center of your life. Please be as truthful as you can, not falling into discouragement or collapse, or into inflation and self-importance.

Taking up the Practice of the Quarter might well assist you.

The poems that follow might shed some light.

The Book of the Quarter may provide some guidance.

And our upcoming San Francisco Free Integral Learning Lab (formerly known as the Coaching Roundtable) will also take up the topic with talks, exercises, music and community support.

I will be writing more about this in our upcoming issues.

Take care of yourself.

Love,

• Based upon how I spent my time, employed my energy, what I thought/worried about and spoke about, what was the center of my life?
• In what ways did this discovered center of my life intersect with what I say/ feel/hope my life is about? In what ways did it not?
• How do I understand/reconcile/explain/justify any differences?
• How will I take what I learned into my next period of observation?

Young and Old

R.S. Thomas

Cold sea, cold sky:
This is how age looks
At a thing. The people natter,
The wind blows. Nothing they do
Is of worth. The great problems
Remain, stubborn, unsolved.
Man leaves his footprints
Momentarily on a vast shore.

And the tide comes,
That the children play with.
Ours are the first questions
They shelve. The wind is the blood
In their veins. Above them the aircraft
Domesticate the huge sky.

I Know a Man

Robert Creeley

As I sd to my
friend, because I am
always talking,—John, I

sd, which was not his
name, the darkness sur-
rounds us, what

can we do against
it, or else, shall we &
why not, buy a goddamn big car,

drive, he sd, for
christ’s sake, look
out where yr going.

The End

Robert Creeley

When I know what people think of me
I am plunged into my loneliness. The grey

hat bought earlier sickens.
I have no purpose no longer distinguishable.

A feeling like being choked
enters my throat.

Letter from the Graduate Director

Dear graduates,

Summer is in full swing here in the northern hemisphere. The longer days and warm weather have people, our family included, enjoying the outdoors more—going on hikes, visiting swimming holes, and eating the fruits of the season. The farm where we get our vegetables is having a weekly potluck. We all wonder at the fields and rows, witnessing the growing of what we eat. The kids run around, play games, and are frequently found digging in the rich dirt. It’s quite something to see the dedication required to grow our food in a way that honors and cooperates with nature rather than manipulates and dominates it. It has me savor each bite with much more appreciation and aliveness.

The other thing I notice is how nature yearns to live and seeks life: the plants peering around corners and climbing structures to absorb sun just a bit longer. It reminds me how the dynamic life in each of us unfolds regardless of our conscious attention. May we tune in, though, cultivating the soil and providing the sunlight so it may flourish rather than mereley survive.

Sending love,

Adam Klein, Graduate Director
P.S. I am thrilled that many of you are submitting pieces for the blog and that you are enjoying the new podcast!

Grad News

Anna Bray (2006) recently joined the staff of Jody Michael Associates, a Chicago- and Atlanta-based company that specializes in coaching and leadership training. Not long after being hired, she represented JMA in an interview about the coaching profession on Chicago’s NPR station. Nicely done Anna!

Sarah Rosenthal (2015) is a published poet! Her book of poetry, Lizard, was published by Chax Press earlier this year. It has been described as “a delightful dream song, a tour de force in narrow measures” and praised for its “candid yet lyric lines,” among copious other acclaim. Kudos, Sarah!

Graduates and their friends gathered in Mexico City last month for the first Mesa Redonda Integral hosted by faculty member Cynthia Luna. It was a great success and the group looks forward to future events!