Interbeing
Social systems all around us are crumbling,
And so many people are grasping at them with every fiber of their being.
I get it. Familiar is safe, and the unknown is scary.
We have all tethered our identities to the current worldviews [See The Story of Separation and The Myth of Individualism.] We have unconsciously embedded these stories into our belief systems and daily language.
We cling to these broken systems because, for most of us, it's outside the realm of possibility that there are other ways of doing things. We are the epitome of Glennon Doyle's zoo-dwelling Tabitha the cheetah.
"Tabitha was born here. She doesn’t know any different. She’s never even seen the wild. This is a good life for Tabitha. She’s much safer here than she would be out in the wild.”
I am not bashing our current top-down systems of support. They have been crucial for many (myself included), but they are not sustainable, and they are reaching a breaking point.
It's becoming very clear that the government is not going to save us. Our “good jobs” with health benefits and 401Ks are not guaranteed. Ranting on the socials isn't going to change things.
Interbeing, a concept from Thich Nhat Hanh, refers to the fact that, as living beings we cannot exist by ourselves alone, we can only inter-be. With each other. With nature. With spirit. Interbeing suggests an alternative to The Myth of Individualism.
Interbeing is how we lived for centuries before the Industrial Revolution, when our world became dominated by industry, corporations and assembly lines.
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Interbeing reminds us that human flourishing happens in relationship.
I have spent a lot of time lately contemplating my role within community as the world crumbles. Maybe you have too?
I definitely haven't figured it out, but the things that are resonating with me right now are (1) We need to re-imagine ways to make money outside of what the current paradigm tells us is THE ONLY way and (2) Conversations matter.
In sharing, we can start to heal the sister wound- which says ‘I don’t belong here’ and ‘I don’t fit in.' In sharing, we realize that we are more similar than we are different.
For things to change, the power cannot live in the hands of a few. Intentional conversations and shared decision making need to be a part of the process.
Before a breakthrough, there is almost always a breakdown. We're in the breakdown phase, and it's going to be a LONG bumpy ride.
If you’re longing for a paradigm change, follow along as I teach you how to use business and community as a catalyst for self-sovereignty and freedom from external control.
“Something’s off about my life. I feel restless and frustrated. I have this hunch that everything was supposed to be more beautiful than this. I imagine fenceless, wide-open savannas. I want to run and hunt and kill. I want to sleep under an ink-black, silent sky filled with stars. It’s all so real I can taste it.”
-Tabitha the cheetah (+ so many woman I know)
Are these the kinds of things that you think about too? Is the state of the planet keeping you up at night? Do you want to talk about it? Do you want to DO SOMETHING about it?