It is usually a compliment to tell someone that they are creative. At least in our society, (and I suspect in our soul) we have a drive to create. Usually if we have an innate drive, there is a deep reason that helps us survive.
So why do we seem to have a mandate to create?
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Synchronicity
It is vaguely similar to déjà vu, but happens much more often. The last day or two has almost been weird how many things appeared just minutes after I wondered about them. It goes beyond mere coincidence. Carl Jung called it synchronicity; a manifestation of the collective unconscious.
Two typical examples:
: An advisor was shopping for a tractor for me. He said he would keep in touch, but I hadn’t heard a word from him. I also hadn’t even thought about him for a week and a half, until this afternoon when I suddenly thought about him strongly. Where is he? Should I look him up? A half hour later he showed up in person with the answer we had been hoping for.
: I had been wondering this afternoon how much a certain employee was making and if we should consider a raise in salary. I was just about to ask Lynn to look it up as I clicked on my next email. There in the email was the specific information I was just about to ask for.
Other incidents in the last 24 hours involved magazine covers boldly announcing the weird topic I just mentioned. Video programs focused on a topic I just brought up, etc.
One of Jung's favorite quotes on Synchronicity was from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, where the White Queen says to Alice: "It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards".
Two typical examples:
: An advisor was shopping for a tractor for me. He said he would keep in touch, but I hadn’t heard a word from him. I also hadn’t even thought about him for a week and a half, until this afternoon when I suddenly thought about him strongly. Where is he? Should I look him up? A half hour later he showed up in person with the answer we had been hoping for.
: I had been wondering this afternoon how much a certain employee was making and if we should consider a raise in salary. I was just about to ask Lynn to look it up as I clicked on my next email. There in the email was the specific information I was just about to ask for.
Other incidents in the last 24 hours involved magazine covers boldly announcing the weird topic I just mentioned. Video programs focused on a topic I just brought up, etc.
One of Jung's favorite quotes on Synchronicity was from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, where the White Queen says to Alice: "It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards".
Thursday, September 21, 2006
A little epiphany this morning…
One man’s order is another man’s entropy.
Entropy is a tendency toward disorder. Life tends to reverse entropy (at least locally). It tends to create order.
Nature had spent millions of years developing intricate communities of interactive plants, animals, minerals and fluids. She built up diversity so the bio-communities can be robust. Her complexity is actually a high level of order.
Historically, our western civilization has viewed nature as chaos and entropy. It needed to be civilized and ordered. We proceeded to eliminate pests and clear fields, reducing the complexity and diversity that had been built up.
Nature’s order seemed like entropy to us.
Our sense of order is entropy to nature.
Entropy is a tendency toward disorder. Life tends to reverse entropy (at least locally). It tends to create order.
Nature had spent millions of years developing intricate communities of interactive plants, animals, minerals and fluids. She built up diversity so the bio-communities can be robust. Her complexity is actually a high level of order.
Historically, our western civilization has viewed nature as chaos and entropy. It needed to be civilized and ordered. We proceeded to eliminate pests and clear fields, reducing the complexity and diversity that had been built up.
Nature’s order seemed like entropy to us.
Our sense of order is entropy to nature.
The basis of toughness
It is hard to appreciate how much my mindset has changed, until I take the time to look at its evolution in the last 8 years or so. This morning I was contemplating lessons I and those near me have been learning the last few years.
My personal relationship with the earth had been minimal until we started HUG. From then on, the projects we worked on pulled me closer to understanding the minerals and how they interact with each other. Then we had expert after expert show up in our lives to teach us about plants and the soil food web.
One outstanding lesson from all this is DIVERSITY.
Laser focus can get certain things done with incredible efficiency, but typically such focus is fragile and can only exist with the support of successful community. Diversity makes communities tough and resilient, and more productive.
Don't forget, communities come in all sizes. They exist in molecules, soil, plants, people.
My personal relationship with the earth had been minimal until we started HUG. From then on, the projects we worked on pulled me closer to understanding the minerals and how they interact with each other. Then we had expert after expert show up in our lives to teach us about plants and the soil food web.
One outstanding lesson from all this is DIVERSITY.
Laser focus can get certain things done with incredible efficiency, but typically such focus is fragile and can only exist with the support of successful community. Diversity makes communities tough and resilient, and more productive.
Don't forget, communities come in all sizes. They exist in molecules, soil, plants, people.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Passion!
Kate sent me this little inspirational / motivational video.
She said it was kind of cheesey, but it made her think of me.
Thanks Kate. I feel like high quality parmesan. (which is really good at our local co-op)
Even though it is mostly just music and printed words, after watching it several times, I still get goosebumps from it. I have always been a sucker for good self motivational stuff.
I also put it on the LINKS sidebar.
She said it was kind of cheesey, but it made her think of me.
Thanks Kate. I feel like high quality parmesan. (which is really good at our local co-op)
Even though it is mostly just music and printed words, after watching it several times, I still get goosebumps from it. I have always been a sucker for good self motivational stuff.
I also put it on the LINKS sidebar.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
War on Terra
Tonight, after reading some international news on the web, Lynn and I spent 20 minutes sampling news channels on TV. We marvelled at how shallow and easily manipulated american news really is. Very little interest in saving the planet; tons of talk about Iraq and the war on terror.
We thought we coined a new term when we asked "What about the War on Terra?"
The term sounded good enough to try to blog something clever about it. Just before starting to write, I googled the term.
"War on Terra" has 11 million hits, including a wikipedia entry.
We thought we coined a new term when we asked "What about the War on Terra?"
The term sounded good enough to try to blog something clever about it. Just before starting to write, I googled the term.
"War on Terra" has 11 million hits, including a wikipedia entry.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Assignment
For the past week or so, as I wake up I find that in my sleep I have been designing houses of cob (a mixture of clay, sand and straw). It even happens during a short nap.
Perhaps the teacher is trying to tell me something.
Perhaps the teacher is trying to tell me something.
I propose a scalable law of quantum physics:
For a given organization, the amount of structure required is proportional to the amount of conscious scrutiny it receives.
The IRS has a lot of scrutiny. It has a lot of rules, policies and procedures.
Sandlot ball games have little structure. Professional games have a lot.
Amateurs can do things pretty much any way they please.
Professionals have to do it by the rules.
Structure is created and enforced by consciousness.
The IRS has a lot of scrutiny. It has a lot of rules, policies and procedures.
Sandlot ball games have little structure. Professional games have a lot.
Amateurs can do things pretty much any way they please.
Professionals have to do it by the rules.
Structure is created and enforced by consciousness.
Structures and behavior repeat themselves
One of my favorite ways to observe life and the universe is by finding analogies in different scales. You can discern important rules by finding principles that work the same on the microscopic scales, people size scales, country size, even astronomical size.
It is useful in every day life because it lets us use what we know about one scale to shine light on another scale. For instance; how your body functions and how an entire country functions have a lot of analogies.
This learning technique has helped me understand electronics and physics and business and social issues. Now it may shed light on a new topic.
Quantum
Experts in quantum mechanics tell us that any given thing is undefined until a conscious entity observes it. Then what had been ambiguity suddenly resolves into a clear reality. I am beginning to realize that forming a new organization of people works the same way.
A new organization such as a business or church starts out with a few ideas and very few rules. When there are very few people in it, there is little need for policies and procedures. You just do what seems right. As more people join, they don’t have the same background and understandings as the founders. They often have to ask what the policy or procedure is for a given situation. Then a policy is created and what had been ambiguity resolves into a clear structure.
Perhaps quantum physics isn’t so bizarre after all.
It is useful in every day life because it lets us use what we know about one scale to shine light on another scale. For instance; how your body functions and how an entire country functions have a lot of analogies.
This learning technique has helped me understand electronics and physics and business and social issues. Now it may shed light on a new topic.
Quantum
Experts in quantum mechanics tell us that any given thing is undefined until a conscious entity observes it. Then what had been ambiguity suddenly resolves into a clear reality. I am beginning to realize that forming a new organization of people works the same way.
A new organization such as a business or church starts out with a few ideas and very few rules. When there are very few people in it, there is little need for policies and procedures. You just do what seems right. As more people join, they don’t have the same background and understandings as the founders. They often have to ask what the policy or procedure is for a given situation. Then a policy is created and what had been ambiguity resolves into a clear structure.
Perhaps quantum physics isn’t so bizarre after all.
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