Intentional Society: Emergence and purpose
Next orientation call for newcomers is now October 29th.
Looking both backwards and forwards, today I'm considering "emergence and purpose" as a polarity. Like stalagmites and stalactites, emergence grows from the floor bottom-up and purpose grows from the ceiling top-down. Integration would mean they meet in the middle, overlap, and grow into each other. (Or maybe some other metaphor that doesn't imply the solidity of rock.)
What about when the don't connect? Maybe that's a "...yet" or maybe they're pointed in different directions. Both modes are important, both are good (classic polarity management) and, like the infinity oscillation graph, the self-aware thing to do (when lacking an integration or resynthesis) is to get more adept at hopping between them and not getting stuck on one side or the other.
I associate both "being mode" and presence practices with the "emergence" pole, likewise the "doing mode" and intentional transformation (exterior and/or interior) with the "purpose" pole. Relatedly, I associate "postmodernism" with the former cluster and "modernism" with the latter, and "metamodernism" in the ideal as the integration of the two. (Those -isms can be huge ideological systems so the better stance with meta...ism is to break the ladder-of-ideology frame and hold pieces fluidly, but that's a different topic.) Form(structure) and formlessness, even.
We've got friends from another group coming over to visit for this Sunday's community practice session, two meta-network-aligned communities coming into contact with each other. What do we have in common? Among other things, an awareness of both of these poles and curiosity about their interplay. Beyond the fun of meeting new friends and allies (hey, that's kinda the emergence side), I hope (hey, that's kinda the purpose side) we can help each other see just a little more about our respective collectives through the eyes of our meta-aware neighbors.
Cheers,
James