The Relational: September 2020
Part newsletter, partly a moment with Jax.
Ecosystems are relational. Humans are relational in a way that includes a consciousness filled with drama. We often get stuck with ourselves and others, which brings suffering and confusion. The core of my work explores how to bring more clarity and choice into relating with one another, so that we can achieve interconnected goals. How we connect to the life within and around us is key to the survival of the human race. It always has been and it is especially true now.
Here are some guiding lights helping me experiment towards better connection with myself and others.
Getting Unstuck Relationally:
The Drama Triangle - Do you want more satisfying, energizing, and consistent relationships? Do you find yourself struggling to figure out what keeps you feeling stuck with others? I know I did. The drama triangle framework has helped me take more responsibility in creating healthy relationships.
Moving Forward the Relational:
US Federation of Worker Coops - Do you dream of a workplace where people practice cooperation with dignity? Interested in business models that are rooted in community sustainability, including care for one another and the land? You may be interested in exploring a worker cooperative model.
The model also has a cousin in the non-profit realm: the worker self-directed non-profit. Here’s a case study from Resist, which became a worker-self directed non-profit in early 2018. Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) is an organization that has championed this model.
Finding Our Way with Prentis Hemphill - Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. The first three episodes have already changed my life. The podcast is unapologetically Black and unapologetically about deep, embodied and relational liberation work. Sonya Renee Taylor, adrienne maree brown, and Mia Birdsong–each are powerhouse relational/culture workers–are the guests on the first three episodes respectively.
Relational Uprising - I’m slowly getting familiar with this team and their work. They have an orientation to change work that I super believe in.
From their website: “As our name implies, we teach a radical relational perspective on change work. As a change approach based on a relational/ecological orientation, we view individuals, communities, organizations and movements as a LIVING RELATIONAL ENTANGLEMENT. This view holds that relationships between these entities are more fundamental than the entities themselves. That is, these living entities emerge, develop and thrive through their meaningful, inclusive and enduring engagement with each other.“
Self-Directed Living for a Complex Life:
So. many. things. All of the things. Amiright? I’ve finally come to accept that I live a life that I couldn’t of imagined as a young person. The biggest learning has been and continues to be around skillfully holding complexity. Here are some tools that I’m currently implementing/exploring for self-directed living of a complex life.
Bullet Journaling - After lots of tinkering with digital project management, I realized it’s not ideal for organizing my own life. I need hand-to-paper as the primary sensory experience for organizing the intimate details of my life and work. Then, I will use the blue light only as needed. So, I'll be exploring bullet journaling this month.
With you in the mystery of it all.
Con paz, mucha paz, pero sobre todo, mucho, mucho amor,
Jax
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