You've beautifully articulated an unease I've held for a while - being someone both inwardly drawn and politically frustrated.
The Hillman and Curtis are also touchstones for me thinking about this issue.
I think the work now is shared leaning into shared realities. So much is about personal epiphany, personal breakthrough as though that obscures all other achievement.
I say this as one resolutely individualistic, who loves solitude and often grumbles at collective engagement. I also live by a principle of community care first, providing shelter to those close by while knowing it's not enough to change the politics. Socialism swelled because enough contended with the inconvenience of it, but also found a kind of joy in overcoming real and present obstacles. The reason it (or other mass movement) doesn't manifest so clearly yet, is the targets seem so abstract. But narratives are growing and people gathering with them. I do think we are in birthing pains of a better way for all of us, but it needs the realism and lack of self-absorption you raise.
Thanks for posting this excellent, thought-stirring article.
Resonates with Ecu Temelkuran's work as well. She flags "faith" (in humanity) as cornerstone of action with others versus individual "hope" as emotional but isolated crutch.
Klein's response exemplifies why many of his "conversations" leave me with jarring hole in my stomach, esp as his society/country is the one directing the narrative which the rest of the world has largely valued/strived to emulate the past 70 years. Only mobilized faith has chance of creating a more humane society.
so much fucking this - thanks for articulating something so beautifully.
inner and outer work has always been dialectical and reflective, but crucially, it has to be situated in community and with other people. Otherwise you wind up in narcissistic pretension, unable to connect meaningfully with anyone.
Thank you for this inspiring piece... I will read it several more times because it felt so good to read it ... in the meantime it prompted me to share this quote I saw posted at a Monastery in Mustang, Nepal I took a photo of about a decade ago... I also work in the non-profit / social impact / social justice / human rights world.... "THE TRUE MEANING OF LIFE....We are visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the very most. During that period, we must try to do something good, something useful, with our lives. If you contribute to other people's happiness, you will find the true goal, the true meaning of life" H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama
Thank you. I write about the heart-mind split which is so very parallel to your work. "If only" is my imagining that we can reweave to see the inter-dependence of humans to each other, and all other beings -- really the connection to life itself. It's the same word in Chinese. I remain hopeful but also see ai and techno/authoritarian powers infiltrating the liminal to keep this reweaving from happening. Just throwing trash out the window of a car is a destructive act due to the separation from our "second body." Let alone those with privilege to do the "inner work."
I love this post on the reconciliation between inner and outer and couldn’t agree more! In my work as a psychotherapist I find myself thinking about this a lot, helicoptering into the inner world of a client, and mirroring out to their relationships and place in the world. I think there has been a retreat to inner well being only and we need to beware of this. I feel as I write about trauma and apply psychological ideas to our everyday lives in my own Substack, I am gradually being an activist myself. Here is an example of my own ideas on this written in a recent blog. https://talkingtrauma.substack.com/
Thanks for this, lots of food for thought. I went to your burnout article linked in this and really appreciate your breakdown to breakthrough model enquiry. As someone who has had periods of withdrawing from news for fear of overwhelm, ie very self focussed, I have come back out into engaging more intentionally with more news again. I am now wanting to experiment with a mixture of stories that are hopefull as well as the ongoing slew of breakdown stuff in order to stay connected whilst supporting balance.
My 2p's worth is to reiterate a 'secular amen' to the Heather Parry summary along with a quote from Jimmy Reid's Glasgow address, unfortunately as relevant now as it was in 1972
Thank you for articulating this. I have seen in my own family the impacts of increasing isolation and loneliness, and on my team at work from news events increasing the pressure. We are all interconnected and as a civil engineer, I can say that we achieve nothing on our own - I couldn’t even build a shed in my garden on my own, let alone the infrastructure we all rely on for our essential needs.
Chris Whittington leads an online meditation group with a strong focus on peacemaking and the importance of getting the balance right between personal and communal wellbeing - a fascinating conversation from his book launch in November can be found here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n3OsPe_Uq6g
The split you describe with clarity is self-aggravating. Taught to remove ourselves from the fray and to begin with “self-care”, many literally cannot find a path to community that is not blocked by a pile of “rotting” disqualifications.
While in New Orleans with students cleaning up after Katrina, I got lost at night returning from the airport. Without GPS I made one turn after another on dark streets blocked by piles of trash and got stymied and scared. I ultimately determined to “head for light” and ask for help.
We need to look up from these blocked streets of our individual and collective dysfunction, turn on the lights and invite or find others to help. Our worlds are collapsing.
Alex - absolutely 100%. Esp like the inner/outer balance going wrong when the focus is too much on the outer - because I really care about [insert global issue] it justifies poor treatment to my staff - it's another - the rules don't apply. To add two thoughts - one is that the wellbeing/therapy focus on 'addressing bad stuff' does not necessarily address the positive - freedom from bad stuff to do what - what does thriving and flourishing look like? not self-containment in most philosophical traditions I would think. Secondly - for your next iteration of this, the other thing that' killing us is the 'it's all about our children' - from over-parenting at the expense of social or political action to affect the future they inherit, to self-perpetuating cycle of
consumerist approaches to education/financial security/individual success or investing so much in individuals as flawed as we are. As a 'Surrey mummy' the instincts that created the soft play generation (now the ipad toddler generation) is another wolf in sheep's clothing it feels.
As you know, the challenge is to keep finding new ways to make and exemplify this case, and "wellbeing is killing us" is one of the best I've seen. I also appreciated the extracts, most of which I hadn't seen. I have the Hilman book you mention, but I had never noticed that distinction between inner soul and outer soul he mentions, which is useful in the context of Perspectiva's focus on "systems, souls, and society." We did debate whether to make it 'soul' or 'souls' back in the day, and went for the plural to speak of/to individual souls, but this Hilman angle is another way to make sense of the plural. 🙏
Thanks Jonathan. It’s an awesome book (and I also love the writing of Michael Ventura, who’s Hillman’s co author — his piece ‘The Age of Endarkenment’ from 1989 is sensational)
You've beautifully articulated an unease I've held for a while - being someone both inwardly drawn and politically frustrated.
The Hillman and Curtis are also touchstones for me thinking about this issue.
I think the work now is shared leaning into shared realities. So much is about personal epiphany, personal breakthrough as though that obscures all other achievement.
I say this as one resolutely individualistic, who loves solitude and often grumbles at collective engagement. I also live by a principle of community care first, providing shelter to those close by while knowing it's not enough to change the politics. Socialism swelled because enough contended with the inconvenience of it, but also found a kind of joy in overcoming real and present obstacles. The reason it (or other mass movement) doesn't manifest so clearly yet, is the targets seem so abstract. But narratives are growing and people gathering with them. I do think we are in birthing pains of a better way for all of us, but it needs the realism and lack of self-absorption you raise.
Thanks for posting this excellent, thought-stirring article.
Thanks so much Simon, love these thoughts
Resonates with Ecu Temelkuran's work as well. She flags "faith" (in humanity) as cornerstone of action with others versus individual "hope" as emotional but isolated crutch.
Klein's response exemplifies why many of his "conversations" leave me with jarring hole in my stomach, esp as his society/country is the one directing the narrative which the rest of the world has largely valued/strived to emulate the past 70 years. Only mobilized faith has chance of creating a more humane society.
so much fucking this - thanks for articulating something so beautifully.
inner and outer work has always been dialectical and reflective, but crucially, it has to be situated in community and with other people. Otherwise you wind up in narcissistic pretension, unable to connect meaningfully with anyone.
Thank you for this inspiring piece... I will read it several more times because it felt so good to read it ... in the meantime it prompted me to share this quote I saw posted at a Monastery in Mustang, Nepal I took a photo of about a decade ago... I also work in the non-profit / social impact / social justice / human rights world.... "THE TRUE MEANING OF LIFE....We are visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the very most. During that period, we must try to do something good, something useful, with our lives. If you contribute to other people's happiness, you will find the true goal, the true meaning of life" H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama
Thank you. I write about the heart-mind split which is so very parallel to your work. "If only" is my imagining that we can reweave to see the inter-dependence of humans to each other, and all other beings -- really the connection to life itself. It's the same word in Chinese. I remain hopeful but also see ai and techno/authoritarian powers infiltrating the liminal to keep this reweaving from happening. Just throwing trash out the window of a car is a destructive act due to the separation from our "second body." Let alone those with privilege to do the "inner work."
I love this post on the reconciliation between inner and outer and couldn’t agree more! In my work as a psychotherapist I find myself thinking about this a lot, helicoptering into the inner world of a client, and mirroring out to their relationships and place in the world. I think there has been a retreat to inner well being only and we need to beware of this. I feel as I write about trauma and apply psychological ideas to our everyday lives in my own Substack, I am gradually being an activist myself. Here is an example of my own ideas on this written in a recent blog. https://talkingtrauma.substack.com/
Thanks for this, lots of food for thought. I went to your burnout article linked in this and really appreciate your breakdown to breakthrough model enquiry. As someone who has had periods of withdrawing from news for fear of overwhelm, ie very self focussed, I have come back out into engaging more intentionally with more news again. I am now wanting to experiment with a mixture of stories that are hopefull as well as the ongoing slew of breakdown stuff in order to stay connected whilst supporting balance.
Thanks for this, Alex - so much to unpack.
My 2p's worth is to reiterate a 'secular amen' to the Heather Parry summary along with a quote from Jimmy Reid's Glasgow address, unfortunately as relevant now as it was in 1972
"It is my sincere contention that anyone who can be totally adjusted to our society is in greater need of psychiatric analysis and treatment than anyone else." (http://bfanon.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/jimmy-reids-glasgow-address-still.html)
Thank you for articulating this. I have seen in my own family the impacts of increasing isolation and loneliness, and on my team at work from news events increasing the pressure. We are all interconnected and as a civil engineer, I can say that we achieve nothing on our own - I couldn’t even build a shed in my garden on my own, let alone the infrastructure we all rely on for our essential needs.
Chris Whittington leads an online meditation group with a strong focus on peacemaking and the importance of getting the balance right between personal and communal wellbeing - a fascinating conversation from his book launch in November can be found here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n3OsPe_Uq6g
Thank you for this informative post, a lot learn.
The split you describe with clarity is self-aggravating. Taught to remove ourselves from the fray and to begin with “self-care”, many literally cannot find a path to community that is not blocked by a pile of “rotting” disqualifications.
While in New Orleans with students cleaning up after Katrina, I got lost at night returning from the airport. Without GPS I made one turn after another on dark streets blocked by piles of trash and got stymied and scared. I ultimately determined to “head for light” and ask for help.
We need to look up from these blocked streets of our individual and collective dysfunction, turn on the lights and invite or find others to help. Our worlds are collapsing.
Alex - absolutely 100%. Esp like the inner/outer balance going wrong when the focus is too much on the outer - because I really care about [insert global issue] it justifies poor treatment to my staff - it's another - the rules don't apply. To add two thoughts - one is that the wellbeing/therapy focus on 'addressing bad stuff' does not necessarily address the positive - freedom from bad stuff to do what - what does thriving and flourishing look like? not self-containment in most philosophical traditions I would think. Secondly - for your next iteration of this, the other thing that' killing us is the 'it's all about our children' - from over-parenting at the expense of social or political action to affect the future they inherit, to self-perpetuating cycle of
consumerist approaches to education/financial security/individual success or investing so much in individuals as flawed as we are. As a 'Surrey mummy' the instincts that created the soft play generation (now the ipad toddler generation) is another wolf in sheep's clothing it feels.
Thanks Catherine. Right there with you in the desirability of higher risk appetites in parenting! Jonathan Haidt is so interesting on this
Good one, Alex. 👍
As you know, the challenge is to keep finding new ways to make and exemplify this case, and "wellbeing is killing us" is one of the best I've seen. I also appreciated the extracts, most of which I hadn't seen. I have the Hilman book you mention, but I had never noticed that distinction between inner soul and outer soul he mentions, which is useful in the context of Perspectiva's focus on "systems, souls, and society." We did debate whether to make it 'soul' or 'souls' back in the day, and went for the plural to speak of/to individual souls, but this Hilman angle is another way to make sense of the plural. 🙏
Thanks Jonathan. It’s an awesome book (and I also love the writing of Michael Ventura, who’s Hillman’s co author — his piece ‘The Age of Endarkenment’ from 1989 is sensational)