Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Integratefullness Day!

Thanksgiving is a wonderful EthnoCentric holiday. It embodies everything good about traditional amber (Blue in SDi terms) and will, no doubt, continue to serve the mainstream (amber to orange) populace for generations to come.

Many of us will gather 'round our family tables for traditional meals and time, with parents, siblings, husbands, wives, significant others, children, friends, extended family members, and more...and, yet...what about those of us who find ourselves looking at the world, and our universe, through more complex lenses? "Thanksgiving," my personal favorite holiday, as special as it is, seems, well....partial.

First, Thanksgiving is pretty much a national holiday, rising up out of the first North American settlers' celebration of being in a new country. Tres' EthnoCentic! But, the idea behind Thanksgiving is bigger than that. It's all about gratitude.

So, in a larger context, with a larger purpose, I'd like to propose that we start thinking about a day of gratitude that could be shared with the entire world, separate from location, ethnocentricity, race, creed, politics, religion, level of development, whatever, and that we consider calling this day of gratitude "Integratefullness Day," or Gratitude Day: a combination of an integral perspective, gratitude, and the fullness from which it arises.

Integratefullness = Integrate + Grateful + Fullness.

It's probably not for everyone, but it doesn't mean we can't build an awareness around it and carry it in our hearts.

Today, and every day, I am grateful to so many for so much.

First, my immediate family, my Mom and Dad, my sister Sooz, and my unbelievably loving daughters, Morgan and Tanya, their husbands, and my three grandkids (with another on the way!!!), who I love more than words can ever say......
Anyaa.......
Tom, Venita, Jake, Elle, Anita, Blaine, Nina, and new Core group members Susan and Chris: What we are building together!....
Everyone at SeattleIntegral: What a rich, diverse, and wonderful group you are.....
Ken, for kicking me in the butt and changing my life.....
Everyone at Integral Institute for what you're doing......
An emerging consciousness.....
The three hundred or so people who visit this blog every week, reading, even when I struggle to find my voice.....

....and for this huge, unbound, and limitless heart space I find myself holding and sharing.....even if you piss me off (smile...), I still hold a place in there for you.

Happy Integratefullness Day!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gary,
I love your graphics but most of all I love your honest highest-truth-seeking way of exploring subjects and how this enhances life! Especially mine!
I am integrating my gratefulness for you fully!

Love,
Anyaa