talk about integration

lately i've been thinking a lot about what it means to have an integrated approach to the many different aspects of life. that statement is kinda intentionally oxymoronic, because what i'm really trying to do is understand life as one coherent whole, in which various elements are organically connected rather than discrete categories such as: school, work, play, family life, religion, recreation, physical, spiritual, rational, emotional, etc.

a friend of mine sent me the following link to one of the talks on TED.com of a woman speaking about a crochet project with implications for upper level math, environmental consciousness, the advancement of women and more. in a culture that is dominated by a predisposition to want to separate and divide things, it's encouraging and refreshing to find communities of people that are looking for the underlying order and unity in the universe. perhaps equally exciting is how much more profound our understanding of ourselves and the world around us seems to become when we do discover the unifying patterns in life, and find meaning in things we'd previously taken for granted. the potential to apply knowledge to the advancement of society appears to grow as we move away from abstractions and pure theory, and start to examine how various theories and phenomena actually play out in the world.

maybe you'll find this interesting too:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/margaret_wertheim_crochets_the_coral_reef.html

so you wanna be startin' somethin'

alright, the time has come for me to give in and embrace the inner author. i'm up in this blog thang now and we'll see how it goes. anybody who knows might remember my initial reaction when some of my friends started getting involved with blogging. at the time i was having a hard time figuring out why anyone should take time out their day just to read about mundane day-to-day activities of friends they probably see all the time.

needless to say my exposure to and understanding of the range of possibilities for how blogs can be used to connect and communicate with others was less than significant back then. something about it sort of reeked of rampant ego. i thought that if i was ever to delve into the "blogosphere" ( i'm sure i've heard that word used somewhere, but i'm fairly certain i don't really like it), that i'd have to have a strong theme or purpose to my posts.

well, i've learned a lot since then, and must admit that my receptivity to this medium as a tool for participating in and influencing discourse has grown. at the same time i've shaken off the tendency to immediately assume that anybody reppin' their blog was dealing with some serious self-centeredness, and have come to appreciate that many bloggers are just sharing a piece of themselves with the world come what may.

a process of learning seems to be a fairly common thread in life that is increasingly asserting itself on our consciousness on a daily basis. therefore, part of how i understand this blog is as part of my learning process. as i experience life there will be many people, landscapes, journeys, situations, books, songs, films, conversations, youtube clips, facebook statuses, myspace spams, etc that may prompt some reflection. from time to time i'll share some of my thoughts and feelings related to this crazy world and the struggle not just to live, but to thrive in it (i might ask if that's even possible, while the optimist inside screams that it must be). so that's what it is. to any friends upon whose blogging endeavor i've thrown salt in the past, you live and you learn (before your bridges burn - old 90's RnB song), you know i love you right? here we go.....