tractsofrevolution

Becoming All That We Are

One of the most fascinating examples of creative change in nature is the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. Genetically the two organisms at either end are identical, and yet they are so different from each other in every other way, that unless you watched the whole event with unblinking eyes, you’d never believeContinue reading “Becoming All That We Are”

Meditation on a Tree

Sometimes it’s easier to understand ourselves by using something else as our lens. Let’s take that tree outside your window. As an analogy, this particular example is especially helpful given that a tree is rooted in the ground, growing up and out to participate in its local and regional ecosystem. Lots of fascinating connotations attachContinue reading “Meditation on a Tree”

Five Aspirations

Damn, if it doesn’t keep happening. We set our sights and give chase to something we expect will satisfy our longing – for what exactly, we’re not sure, but this might be it. After it’s over, and even if we managed to grab on and gulp down the promising thing, we feel more unsatisfied andContinue reading “Five Aspirations”

Keeping It Real

What is it for something to be real? Let’s go even bigger and ask, What is reality? Presumably something is real when it has reality, but what does that even mean? Are we just tripping over terms but getting no closer to genuine insight and understanding? Not surprisingly, we’re not the first to ask theseContinue reading “Keeping It Real”

Waiting in Line

The human journey through life has only recently been a topic of psychological study. For thousands of years before that, its exploration was mythological, carried out not by objective research but subjective experience. Our modern tools of psychology have made possible a rational precision that was not available all those centuries and millenniums, but evenContinue reading “Waiting in Line”

1-3-5-4

We are living in a time when dangerous and death-dealing ideologies (belief systems) are threatening to pull our world apart. In one way or another, these ideologies share a common lineage by attaching themselves to the “wild card” factor of ego consciousness. Some regard ego as supreme, whether we’re speaking of the personal ego ofContinue reading “1-3-5-4”

The Wheel of Happiness

Let’s play a game. I call it The Wheel of Happiness. The background idea of my game is that the wholeness, integrity, and balance we want in our life is about coordinating our intention across four dimensions. This four-fold typology of human wholeness identifies four distinct dimensions or domains of conscious experience which require aContinue reading “The Wheel of Happiness”

Can You Believe It?

It’s amazing to think that humans are the only species on Earth that will kill and die not just for territory, food, mates and offspring, but even for our beliefs. Indeed the greater proportion of damage and death caused by humans over our relatively short history has been for the sake and in the nameContinue reading “Can You Believe It?”

Living By What We Know

I’m going to make an argument that will likely seem strange to you, at least at first. It applies to our current situation as a species on this planet, specifically to our apparent disorientation and confusion when it comes to knowing how to live and get along. Add to this a chronic frustration over soContinue reading “Living By What We Know”

The Four Priorities

A theory of human psychology and development will be more valuable to the degree we can use it to make sense of our individual experience. Classical scientific objectivity must be counterbalanced by subjective truth, in not only explaining our topic dispassionately from a distance but also in helping us better understand what being human isContinue reading “The Four Priorities”