Yes, the mental mode is seeing, and assessing, what is the same and what is different. Even if we want to step away from doing so, it may not be possible as we become human. Perhaps as the circle closes we arrive at the point where that assessment is no longer necessary. We think we must choose...only to learn we do not, we can simply be.
You write, "Even if we want to step away from doing so, it may not be possible as we become human." In (this experimental form of disclosing more each week in) this series, my hope is that we will come to see that consciousness itself, as an ever-unfolding creative act, is pulling along all that has come before, *including* seeing and assessing, toward an integrated whole, i.e., your phrase, "as the circle closes." Who knows if we'll see this in this April poetry series!?! Ha! (That's on me to show us. Am I up to the task? We shall see!) Your reflection tells me we've got a good foundation, and for that, I'm grateful, especially because you intimate something in your last sentence, planting a question: what is the distinction between choosing and (the illusion of) control?
I so appreciate you exploring this and sharing, Donna.
What an amazing journey through the Archaic, Animist, Mythic and Mental. My dream, my hope is that we don't stagnate in the mental, in the division of "I" and "Them". That we come together bringing forward the depth of what we have been, what we are and what we are becoming. There is a wondrous synergy in that, an expectancy of incredible artistry. Very much like MacLeish's poem.
If we together hope, perhaps we humanity will answer the call. I am hoping with you. Others are too. A circle is forming around the world. Thomas Berry said this is The Great Work of our time, "the reinvention of the human." One gets the sense that all of life is supporting us. Consciousness itself is pulling us toward. It could be said that we are in the birth canal, laboring through the tight squeeze of anguish. There is a flicker of light drawing us toward, "bringing forward the depth of what we have been, what we are and what we are becoming." One gets the sense of crescendo in the "wondrous synergy in that, an expectancy of incredible artistry. Very much like MacLeish's poem." YES!
I'm so enjoying your reflections, Julie. Thank you!
I am awed by this, Renee. ❤️ You made poetry of Gebser's structures. It simultaneously stirs and quiets the soul. I was enraptured, reading your words about the Mythic and then suddenly there was a gorgeous image of home! Quarai, I believe. One of my favorite places. I nearly burst with delight!
"You made poetry of Gebser's structures. It simultaneously stirs and quiets the soul." This is the hope. Per a conversation we had recently about the manuscript, I thought to play with this and see how it would land. As I shared with Kimberly Warner in an earlier comment, I admit to having had some concerns about pushing this too far and losing the reader. You all are giving me a green light, and I thank you!
I imagined you would recognize home! Those images are from Abó. I wandered over to Quarai a day or so later. It was a magical time. I had just entered six weeks of desert solitude and silence.
On another note, I received an email yesterday calling for proposals to present at the next Gebser conference . . . in Santa Fe. Might be headed your way October . . . cottonwoods turning golden!
Yay!!! Best news ever! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I'm so excited! I wish you could see the utter delight on my face. (And in October, the aspens just above Santa Fe are pure magic too.) Thank you so much for including a link to your presentation last year. Reading the paper you sent me was transformative, truly, but watching you present it takes it to a whole other level.
“In this next great turning, thought transcends wonder as seeking. In the word seeking is the word see. As thought unfolds, it seeks what it cannot see. In seeking, thought divides what is seen from what is not seen. In dividing, thought brings cause and effect….” Renée, I stopped copying there but you continued with such an eloquent unfolding of consciousness, the birth of “I” and “other,” “time and space.” I have never read a more clear-as-a-bell evolution story and how being became meaning through the initial break from wonder into seeking. I mean! I’m gasping for air over here as I try to assimilate this great truth! Thank you!!!
I had some concerns about this post, wondering if I would lose the reader completely in an endeavor to evoke these stages of consciousness through the human journey . . . in short-form writing(!). I gather not, from you.
You've given me a long "WHEWwwwww!" Thank *you*!!!!
Yes, the mental mode is seeing, and assessing, what is the same and what is different. Even if we want to step away from doing so, it may not be possible as we become human. Perhaps as the circle closes we arrive at the point where that assessment is no longer necessary. We think we must choose...only to learn we do not, we can simply be.
Donna,
You write, "Even if we want to step away from doing so, it may not be possible as we become human." In (this experimental form of disclosing more each week in) this series, my hope is that we will come to see that consciousness itself, as an ever-unfolding creative act, is pulling along all that has come before, *including* seeing and assessing, toward an integrated whole, i.e., your phrase, "as the circle closes." Who knows if we'll see this in this April poetry series!?! Ha! (That's on me to show us. Am I up to the task? We shall see!) Your reflection tells me we've got a good foundation, and for that, I'm grateful, especially because you intimate something in your last sentence, planting a question: what is the distinction between choosing and (the illusion of) control?
I so appreciate you exploring this and sharing, Donna.
With love,
Renée
What an amazing journey through the Archaic, Animist, Mythic and Mental. My dream, my hope is that we don't stagnate in the mental, in the division of "I" and "Them". That we come together bringing forward the depth of what we have been, what we are and what we are becoming. There is a wondrous synergy in that, an expectancy of incredible artistry. Very much like MacLeish's poem.
Julie,
If we together hope, perhaps we humanity will answer the call. I am hoping with you. Others are too. A circle is forming around the world. Thomas Berry said this is The Great Work of our time, "the reinvention of the human." One gets the sense that all of life is supporting us. Consciousness itself is pulling us toward. It could be said that we are in the birth canal, laboring through the tight squeeze of anguish. There is a flicker of light drawing us toward, "bringing forward the depth of what we have been, what we are and what we are becoming." One gets the sense of crescendo in the "wondrous synergy in that, an expectancy of incredible artistry. Very much like MacLeish's poem." YES!
I'm so enjoying your reflections, Julie. Thank you!
With love,
Renée
I am awed by this, Renee. ❤️ You made poetry of Gebser's structures. It simultaneously stirs and quiets the soul. I was enraptured, reading your words about the Mythic and then suddenly there was a gorgeous image of home! Quarai, I believe. One of my favorite places. I nearly burst with delight!
Jenna,
"You made poetry of Gebser's structures. It simultaneously stirs and quiets the soul." This is the hope. Per a conversation we had recently about the manuscript, I thought to play with this and see how it would land. As I shared with Kimberly Warner in an earlier comment, I admit to having had some concerns about pushing this too far and losing the reader. You all are giving me a green light, and I thank you!
I imagined you would recognize home! Those images are from Abó. I wandered over to Quarai a day or so later. It was a magical time. I had just entered six weeks of desert solitude and silence.
On another note, I received an email yesterday calling for proposals to present at the next Gebser conference . . . in Santa Fe. Might be headed your way October . . . cottonwoods turning golden!
Love to you,
Renée
Yay!!! Best news ever! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I'm so excited! I wish you could see the utter delight on my face. (And in October, the aspens just above Santa Fe are pure magic too.) Thank you so much for including a link to your presentation last year. Reading the paper you sent me was transformative, truly, but watching you present it takes it to a whole other level.
This should have been in my roundup this morning if I’d been current in my reading. Glad you fixed that. More later….
Tara,
I was delighted to read your verses and learn that poetry is working its magic through the creative collective here on Substack!
". . . current on my reading": I wonder if that's possible anymore. I missed yours last week but haven't forgotten it. More on that later. Ha!
Much love,
r.
“In this next great turning, thought transcends wonder as seeking. In the word seeking is the word see. As thought unfolds, it seeks what it cannot see. In seeking, thought divides what is seen from what is not seen. In dividing, thought brings cause and effect….” Renée, I stopped copying there but you continued with such an eloquent unfolding of consciousness, the birth of “I” and “other,” “time and space.” I have never read a more clear-as-a-bell evolution story and how being became meaning through the initial break from wonder into seeking. I mean! I’m gasping for air over here as I try to assimilate this great truth! Thank you!!!
Kimberly,
I had some concerns about this post, wondering if I would lose the reader completely in an endeavor to evoke these stages of consciousness through the human journey . . . in short-form writing(!). I gather not, from you.
You've given me a long "WHEWwwwww!" Thank *you*!!!!
With love,
r.
Not only that but I’ve reread it twice now and once out loud to my mom!
Awwwww. Thank you for sharing this with me!
(Hi "Mom"!)