PURPOSE OF SECTION
This new section "Between Order and Chaos: mechanisms for manifesting spirit in flesh." is meant to provide a forum for dealing with the mechanics of how spirit expresses in flesh and in this world. The section title comes from the idea that all of CREATION occurs between order and chaos. Too much order, and the system is too frozen to change ... it cannot adapt, so it dies. Too much chaos and there is not enough of a fixed basis for anything to retain a form and hence exist. Somewhere between lies the balance point that permits all life to exist and spirit to express within form.
For those of you that haven't seen the essay by Ratco Tomic:
I highly recommend that you do so. It is well worth the time to read it.
Since no comments in this area have been received yet, I thought I'd use this opportunity to express some observations and realizations that I've made since reading the essay that relate to how my particular mind seems to function in terms of structuring everything as nodes of facts or information and the relationships between those nodes.
The bottom line is that this kind of model works well for representing and understanding how one's mind functions ... at least it seems to do so for the way I observe my mind operating. I'm curious as to whether others find this to be true well. I find it hard to believe that I am unique in any way with respect to this. Then again, I haven't yet met anyone else who observes thoughts occurring in their mind but doesn't experience or acknowledge being the creator of those thoughts. Yet, such is indeed how I consciously experience this process.
To begin with, let's identify some of the key functions that I have observed many times throughout the month:
The first component that is omnipresent is a great intensity of focus. When I am engaged in doing something, that activity receives my undivided attention. Virtually every aspect of my awareness is poured into integrating all the relevant information, assessing the situation, identifying and evaluating alternative, defining what needs to be done, resolving problems, overcoming obstacles, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done effectively with whatever resources are available.
I've always been able to apply my mind in this fashion, but only in the past four months has my job been such that I need to focus on many different specific things every single day. The only way I have found to deal with this is to be able to completely clear my mind of one issue and then reload it with another. In computer science, this is a context switch. I observe this happening as much as half a dozen times in the course of an hour.
Further, as with a computer, I have to ensure that I write down enough information to capture the state that my mind was in prior to clearing my mind in order to be able to return to where I was. I can't count on either short or long term memory to do this for me. Such is my experience anyway. If I don't write it down, I generally won't remember it.
COLLECTING NEW INFORMATION
In a typical day, I ask more questions now than I asked in any week at any time in my work life prior to four months ago. A large majority of the new information I encounter every day comes directly in response to asking these questions. I never really did this when I was in school. I don't remember asking a single question of any instructor that I ever had.
One question on my mind virtually all the time is "how can this process be improved"? Another is "how can the resources being applied to this task be better employed"? These questions are there regardless of whether I am personally responsible or in charge of the process.
These two questions are always in the background. The observer part of my mind is always operating on them ... regardless of how intense my focus is on the actual matter at hand. It's as if there is another set of eyes and another part of my mind operating in parallel on this metatask.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Isolated facts have no real meaning for me. My mind is constantly making new connections between different pieces of information and changing the emphasis on existing connections based on new understanding and new evaluations of the feedback that I see coming from the world.
I know this process has always been occurring ... it is the natural way that the brain operates. What is different is the level of insight into and conscious awareness of the process that I now experience. I literally SEE when the connections are being made, when they are being broken and why, and when they are being strengthened or lessened. I never truly experienced this happening consciously before.
Being aware makes all the difference in the world. It's as if the process now works FOR ME directly. The analogy is that my mind is operating on all of it's cylinders now, in a way that it has never done before. The overall result is close to an order of magnitude improvement in productivity. I am engaged at full speed nearly all the time ... yet it is EASY. I am relaxed, allowing it to simply flow as it will. There is no pressure, there is no stress. I'm just functioning at a level that fully employs my abilities. Not only that, but I am learning at a rate that I never imagined was possible.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF CONNECTIONS
Many different kinds of connections are being made between many different kinds of things. In many cases where no hint of connection was available before. In many ways, I am building a very convoluted web of information tied together by these links of various types between the pieces/nodes.
The connections are not limited to a three dimensional representation. The overall web is so complex that there is no clear picture of all that it contains.
INFORMATION CONSTRUCTS AT METALEVELS
Further there are many metalevels. At the bottom is data, then there are connections that apply meaning to the data transforming it to various types of information useful for various activities. Then there is information about information. Some of these are generalizations within the same area of meaning. Others are generalizations about the very nature of information. One step further, we have generalization about information processes themselves. And so on ... and so on ... It is not clear that there is ever an endpoint.
The processes of organizing information into meaning at multiple levels of abstraction appear to be innately encoded in our genes. In very real ways, we are complex information systems embodied in flesh. Yet, we are MORE than that. We are the beings that can be aware of the parts of us that perform as complex information systems.
THE SPIDER ON THE WEB
As I change contexts and focus on different things the sense I have is of being a spider with an enormous web that I am constantly creating. At any one time my focus is on HERE and NOW, the immediate position on the web that I occupy. My immediate options available to act on are the links that are closest to my present position and any new information that is presently available. Whenever a new piece of information reaches me, I either connect it to some local vacinity or I make one or more jumps to get me to a place in the web where I can make the necessary connections that add to the meaning embedded in my web.
MAPS AND NAVIGATION SYSTEMS
There is an innate awareness of the overall structure of my web. It is as if there is an instinctual map that I can count on to move me in the right direction to get to where I need to be to operate effectively. This is not something that I consciously set out to create. Rather it is something that was a natural product of the manner in which I was moved to grow by the environment and circumstances in which I found myself and by my natural innate talents/abilities. I did not consciously design how this would occur. Yet there is a strong sense that another level of WHOM THAT I AM did indeed do this.
Looking back over my life, much of this was governed by where I focused my attention. For 23 years, metaphysics has occupied a great amount of my time and my thought. In many ways, it has literally defined the world in which I live. Somewhere along the way, I found a navigation system that I could trust tied to my intuition. It took twenty years to get beyond thinking about it, to truly KNOWING that it was there. Now it is as if it is on automatic. It functions all the time. No matter what the issue, and what the system, I know there is a basic framework that I can use to turn information into meaning and then to make effective decisions and take appropriate action based on that meaning.
This requires some type of navigation system that permits reaching a relevant place on my web from which to engage in any possible issue that I might encounter. Interesting. One thing I've noticed arise from this is a great increase in confidence. There is this sense that no matter what I encounter, I have the abilities to not only deal with it, but to do so effectively and to grow from the experience.
WILLINGNESS TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK
In nearly every area of my life, I literally go out of my way to provide feedback. It takes a lot of time to do this. But, it seems to be the only way we have available to truly make a difference. It is more than a matter of being aware. Many times per day I converse with others who are observing exactly what I observe. However, I am not content to let it stop there. I feel a personal obligation to voice whatever inefficiency I find wherever I find it. This is not done to harm or punish anyone, rather it is done to make such things visible so that something can be done about them to make things better. In many cases giving voice to the information is as far as my involvement goes. In many other cases, I take a specific action, or volunteer to become part of a team to address the issue/problem.
Until recently, I would not have considered such things "my business". Now, however, "my business" seems to encompass virtually everything ... or at least those things that my particular skills/talents can assist with. Anytime that I see a better way, I speak out. Anytime I see lack of service, I speak out. Anytime I see LOSE/LOSE or WIN/LOSE behavior and there is something that I can effectively do about it, I speak out. It matters not whether my voice is heard in the particular instance. It is enough that it triggers action that makes a difference in some instances. Further, it provides a clear example to others of what they too can do. Don't overlook the importance of examples. Creating new ways of expression is not easy for most people. However, following a precedent, a specific related example that has gone before is easy for many to do. These examples can be the triggers that truly make a difference in our world.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
One behavior that I constantly engage in, on my own, and in meetings with others is to identify action items, and to assign myself responsibility (or volunteer) for these action items. In many of my working meetings, I assume the majority of such actions ... in some cases ALL such actions. Yet, it seems that no matter how much responsibility I take, I can always count on others to provide whatever support is necessary to manage the workload and get everything done on time. It is as if by taking responsibility, I somehow marshall the resources necessary for the work at hand or should I say spirit marshalls them for me.
The key operating principle behind this appears to be that we are truly ONE and those things that I am moved to identify and sign up for are in reality my tasks to do anyway. My taking responsibility is simply recognizing this fact. Interesting.
TAKING ACTION
I've always been confident in my ability to do various kinds of things, especially related to understanding the big picture and general problem solving stuff. Recently, this has taken on a brand new expression, that of stepping in and DOING something on nearly every problem that is brought to my attention. It is not as if I am searching out such problems ... my days are busy enough as it is. However, it is as if I have become a strong magnet .. attracting such issues/problems to me naturally.
This is accompanied by a deep trust that spirit operates behind the scenes bringing to me exactly that which I am meant to experience and participate in. Spirit is the playwright, the director. I am but the actor, playing the role that I have signed up for to the best of my abilities.
COOPERATING WITH OTHERS TO GET THINGS DONE
I am constantly amazed by how much can be accomplished when people cooperate to get it done ... and at how effective processes can become when people are truly working together towards common objectives.
On the other hand, when people are competing, and working towards conflicting objective, virtually nothing gets accomplished due to the incredible waste of talent, energy, and resources.
One key is this is treating others with decency and respect, giving people proper credit for what they do, and truly listening to what they have to say so that their contributions can add real benefit to the group. Overall, these are simple things, but they make all the difference in the world.
It also helps to have no specific personal outcome in mind other than to reach an effective solution within the resource constraints for the job at hand. If I am open, focusing on getting to whatever solution makes the most sense, I do not have to waste energy fighting against anything or trying to sway the group in a direction that does not ultimately serve everyone. The bottom line is that WE, the people pay for all of the resources involved. We have a right to demand that such resources are used in a manner that truly SERVES us collectively.
Another factor that comes to play in this is that WE are truly ONE. Whenever we fight, it is not with "another" rather it is with a different aspect of ourself. So long as we come from a spirit of UNITY, what we create in our reality is the reflection of that very spirit.
ALLOWING NATURAL ORDER TO EMERGE
This less control that I exert, the better I observe that things turn out. The bottom line is that a natural efficiency is engaged when we allow spirit to come forth through us to do her works. At some level we KNOW what is required to do anything, even though we generally are not consciously aware of what this might be.
A key factor in this is that we are truly ONE. This ONE knows exactly what it is doing at all times. It has a natural order of its own, but not an order so fixed that it stiffles creativity. Within that order is a natural diversity of expression that permits the richness of the very life that we experience.
CONCLUSION
Take the time to notice the web that YOU are building. See what facts are incorporated into your web, your personal model of the world. Observe how you create, modify, and remove connection. How often are you doing this? Does this model truly fit with your personal experience? Take the time to understand issues and to make the proper connections, especially with other people. Cooperate as much as you can, and always structure things as WIN/WIN. You may have to be creative to do this, but there is always a way if you will allow spirit to reveal it unto your consciousness.