How full can a life be?

I am moved and settling in to my new digs. My eldest daughter is married and in Cancun with her new husband. I'm recovering from the whirlwind 4-day wedding weekend in Houston and the two seven-hour flights to get there and back, and from the heady thrill of being able to sing James Ingram's "Give Me Forever (I Do)" for their first dance....not a dry eye in the house!

Now I'm jumping in with both feet to prepare for the workshop I'm participating in with members of the Integral New York City Salon at the end of the month, a first-time ever collaboration between integral salons on both coasts, and a little bit of "who cares" integral history. I care.

What a remarkable event! Leaders and participants of two salons on opposite coasts, uniting to present an all day integral event on "Art As A Transformative Practice." Go here and here to find out more about the event and the presenters. I love that we keep creating new paths, new opportunities, and new models for the integral approach!

In addition, I am in the process of designing the jacket (book cover) for the re-release of the book Don Beck co-authored with Graham Linscott, The Crucible: Forging South Africa's Future. This fits right in with a personal goal to serve the integral community with my design abilities. Imagine talking to someone about your graphic and presentation needs that you don't have to teach a new language!

Hmmm....what will I do with my spare time? Oh, yeah....Help create the first local Integral Spirituality group and group processes for the ILP Home Study Kit.

God, I love my life!

Moving beyond a Post-Modern Spirituality

While fundamentalism militantly expresses it self in various religious forms around the world and here in the USA, others are struggling to reassess their religious traditions: traditions and visions of God that were born of a different time. In other words, many are trying to find new ways to be religious.

There's a verse in the Qur'an that says, "Therein God will not change the state of the people unless they change the state of their own selves."

An Integral Spirituality means we participate in divinity, and that our own evolution is the evolution of God.

In a conversation I had with Ken Wilber yesterday, Ken pointed out that the leading edge of progressive consciousness today is Turquoise (2nd tier), a self that goes beyond ego and individuality. Maybe a thousand years from now, this "2nd tier consciousness" will be the conservative viewpoint, and the leading edge at that time will look back and smile.

But like today's conservatives, amber and orange (1st tier conciousness that was once the leading edge), we pioneers, stumbling and erring, will have laid down the framework for that new leading edge.

In the meantime, one of our responsibilities at the current leading edge, is to create tension that compels and challenges others to meet us at higher and deeper levels. And unlike our 1st tier green bretheren (think today's Democratic Party), we can't be wimps about it.

For an amazing viewpoint of both our insignificance and our magnificence, check this out.