Assessment

(The Lay of the Land)

 

The Foundation and Four Pillars of a Well Culture:

I’m coming to suspect a culture built on this foundation and these four pillars is what will guide and support our humanity, aliveness, and capacity for relationship in good ways.

The Foundation

Rhythm - aligning ourselves with timing and cycles, many of which are not our own 

  • Progress which moves in spirals and cycles; seasonality; moving at the pace of trust and relationship - making sure the other four pillars are present.

  • Being ‘out of rhythm’ is trying to control everything or feeling totally out of control and dragged along by life.

The Pillars

Beauty - experiencing and acting in reverence in the face of the sacred spark of aliveness in all things

  • Could also be called God or Spirit; the North in a medicine wheel.

  • Beauty without Aliveness is superficial and bypassing.

Aliveness - participation in the unfolding of Mystery through birth and death, ecstasy and heartbreak, and everything in between

  • Could also be called “the human experience”; the South in a medicine wheel.

  • Aliveness without Beauty is suffering and short-sighted.

Intimacy - an undefended heart recognizes self in other and other in self; paying attention and offering presence

  • Could also be called Surrender, Emotion, Interconnectedness; the West in a medicine wheel.

  • Intimacy without Discernment is lack of boundaries, codependency, self-abnegation or martyrdom.

Discernment - honoring the finite quality of this human experience and the ripples presence makes; finding humility, compassion, power, and freedom within boundaries and limits

  • Could also be called Individuation; Self-Regard; Intellect; the East in a medicine wheel.

  • Discernment without Intimacy is armored hearts, selfishness, and struggles to connect and feel compassion.

 

Assessment Exercise:

So take a moment here and consider the foundation and pillars. Which come easier to you in your life? Which are harder? Within this moment of time of burnout or self-doubt, which pillar might be a guiding compass point?