Systems Thinking Discipline 3

We, collectively, are so much more than the sum of our parts...

Eris, Goddess of Chaos, Strife, and Dichord setting the controls to the heart of the planet from the depths of Bunker

Walking my friend, recently returned from Mexico City, back to his house and then doing a short “Passing Show” as I returned to the bunker, I got to thinking more on how we, collectively, are co-creating the world that we perceive. Thinking about that city of nearly 30 million where my friend was vacationing with his wife, I had to reflect on how, individually, we seem to be so small, but when joined together, we create this hive of activity. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by it all and yet, we are ever more required to raise our awareness of the impacts of our individual actions.

Systems of systems are in operation; wheels within wheels. Earlier today, I made this post:

I am planning on going walking this afternoon as well and then turning in early to bed to get a good start on the six hour shift on Saturday. Sunday will be a bigger challenge as it will be my first full eight hour shift. Monday I am off and plan to sleep after taking my wife in to work. It’s all a matter of building the discipline of early to rise; of thinking in terms of systems; both those of the animal that carries around this imp that I believe myself to be and in all with which that animal engages.

Why am I writing this? I suppose it has to do with being seen, of letting you, who might read this know that I am also a version of you. As will happen, my attention is being diverted and I’m picking up the writing on the following morning.

I received some feedback from one commenter on the “Walking in the World” post this morning. My reader focused on the apparent negative statements such as “lump of flesh” and “voice crying in the wilderness” and attempted to reassure me that I am not those things. It was a potent reminder that communication is NOT the message intended, but the message perceived.

Similarly, in talking yesterday on the Harrowings Podcast with Everyday Junglist, it was clear that we do not read well, generally. I know I am guilty of simply liking the fact that someone has written and taken the time to post something of their own on this platform. I’m an encourager as well as an amplifier of signals through cyberspace; just another node on the non-hierarchical network that is our noosphere. This takes me to several other places in my mind, but I’ll try to stay on track for a bit.

Yesterday’s conversation with Everyday Junglist:

After this, I took a nap and then got up to ask my wife if she’d mind not going out to dinner (which, thankfully, she did not mind) and then I went right back to bed and slept until about 5 AM this morning. Dreams galore of traveling by train and plane to distant lands competed with work stress dreams of my past life as a government contractor coming in on projects in the Federal government. I’m so grateful not to be doing that now.

Systems Thinking Discipline though! I am getting used to the rhythm of working at the corner cafe down the way from the Bunker. Today’s shift is 9 to 3 and should be active as the No Kings demonstrators will be out in force, it’s expected. There are many thoughts about this and the general geo-political system in which we find ourselves. The push and shove of nation states who are fueled by commercial interests; commerce, threaten to disstabilize us in ways in which we might not like. Lives, in fact, will be ended. Our sickness-generating systems constrain us. Everything is regimented in ways that serve the interests of the few while the many suffer. Our society, in fact, is built on suffering. My conversation with Everyday Junglist touches upon this including how this is manifested in popular culture.

This brings me to the thought that first crossed the field of my attention this morning:

While the world may depress us, we can do something about this. From mourning in the morning, we can take it in mind that we are here now. We are alive! We can do something about what we are perceiving as a problem. Gary Vaynerchuk said something about this just yesterday here on Substack: “Stop whining and go do something!” - I think, to be fair, that is a paraphrase as he added an expletive. He’s not wrong, you know. He was a keynote speaker in an “Aspire!” event that I attended on October 10 at the National Harbor, by the way.

Doing something - anything - has an impact. If it’s done with mindful intent of doing good, the possibility of the law of unintended consequences kicking in is there. After all, as noted above, anything done is a form of communication and communication is NOT the message intended. It is the message perceived. I cannot stress this enough.

Why? Why stress this? Why stress at all? Well, I think it’s a matter of needing to be shocked into the awareness that we are often thinking that we are seen one way when quite a different impression is being made. I touched upon this recently:

So it goes! I’m going to be making an impression on my guests and my colleagues today. It’s my intention that the impression be one of care and genuine regard for each one. We shall see how that unfolds. I’m happy to be a part of something greater than myself. It all goes back to my fife and drum upbringing really. Everything emanates from this experience which, as the Everyday Junglist pointed out yesterday, was a very weird upbringing by most people’s standards. Although I personally didn’t get the word about this pandemic performance, I’ll share it with all of you as an example of what we had together. It’s the last time that we were conducted by “Drum Major Moon” as he was affectionately known in Great Britain:

This photograph from the steps of the Courthouse of 1770 during our 60th Anniversary is a favorite of mine:

We joined up at 10 or 11 years old and served in the ranks for the Corps until graduation. To my immediate left as one looks at the picture is my generation’s Sergeant Major (1974-1978) taking a selfie. To the right is a young man who was instructed as a recruit by a gentleman who I instructed. He went on to be the Sergeant Major and Drum Major of the US Army Third Infantry Division’s “Old Guard” Fife and Drum Corps and now is one of the co-founders of the Washington Tattoo. These gentlemen are such talented musicians. For example, here’s the title track of Billy White’s “Throw Another Fife on the Fire" -

Being a part of something larger than oneself is of inestimable value. It weaves us into the fabric of our culture in all it’s best aspects. I do a bit of talking about this with Barlow "Skip" Healy in one of my longest podcasts to date.

Skip was called “the world’s greatest fifer” by Yankee Magazine. I do what I can to support my fellow musicians generally because I truly believe that music is what will heal this world when all is said and done (and so much more will have been said than done at that point!)

So it goes.

All of these ways of being; all of these structures, have architecture at their heart and are built as systems that hold things together while adapting to stress and strain so that the systems can continue into the future. We are stewards of a legacy of all that has gone before and all that will come after. While we may be, as Wavy Gravy describes himself, “Temples of Accumulated Error,” we are also beings of light which may be able to bring together something greater than ourselves for the good of all humanity, sooner rather than later.

This is a major reason why I am promoting Jenny Ouyang’s work:

Her “Build to Launch” Newsletter is putting tools and guidance into the hands of so many. It reminds me of the work Ben Goertzel is doing along with early work in the field of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that I brushed up against when I was living in Pittsburgh and attending parties at the home of Sebastian Thrun.

We can change the world, rearrange the world. A simple phone call can make such a difference. Wavy Gravy called Graham Nash and this was the result:

So we have the No Kings 3 demonstrations today. It’s time.

Use Your Voice!

Thank you too for reading.

Onward.

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