Dream. Dance. Evolve.

This week I discovered a fantastic endeavour being proposed by Jeanne Robinson as I was exploring the website of her husband, Sci Fi luminary Spider Robinson. The Stardance Project‘s aim is to create and promote dance in space, first through a film simulating what is possible through the form and eventually as a reality. Jeanne was the founder and artistic director of Nova Dance Theatre here in Halifax, among other accomplishments, and has passion, experience and expertise enough to craft something incredible.

Spider and Jeanne wrote about dance in space in The Stardance Trilogy and place an emphasis on the transformative and meditative benefits space may hold for us. I’m very appreciative of their work to bring attention to the good and the beauty that we will be enabling as we advance technologically. We should never limit the fruits of science and evolution to mere mechanics, but embrace the grace and luminosity that a greater vista and lesser physical boundaries permit us to walk into.

Spider himself recently started a lively podcast, Spider on the Web, where he has been reading essays and excerpts from his most recent novel. The first essay, “Let’s Start Wasting Money in Space“, is in line with Stardance, promoting space tourism as a way to sew the seeds of space art, sport and contemplation (and space sex!). He paints a brief and compelling picture of space as holding our future and maybe a piece of our salvation.

As a personal note, Spider Robinson has been in the periphery of my reading interests for years. My father’s bookshelf was a treasure trove of science fiction and fantasy and this included Stardance. I didn’t read the book then, nor when Spider became one of my favourite guests on my favourite show when I was an early teen, the well-missed Prisoners of Gravity. Now I’m drawn to him again and think this time I’ll dive in.

For years now I’ve been puzzled at how easily we underestimate our ancestry. Human migration has long been viewed as limited by experts and laypeople alike; I recall being taught the Bering land bridge theory exclusively in junior high. But weighing the evidence now compels us to consider diverse and adventurous travels by the peoples who came before us to each land of this world.

In “Myths of the Primordial Waters“, Ross Laird explores the maritime roots of the peoples of North America, drawing parallels with today’s seafarers. He reminds us that the cultures of this continent have always been involved in a great seaborne convergence, well before the waves of Europeans we are more familiar with now. With his always elegant prose, he holds this exploration in a rare space of both enchantment and insight.

And today some of us still stretch out toward the horizon, physically and in spirit, and in this shared thread carry on an evolving quest for Self and the unknown.

A confluence brings my attention to the reductionistic approaches to understanding our minds tonight.

I’ve begun studying psychology in university and one of the stressed points at the beginning has been how biological and physical processes are increasing in importance in the study of our minds. The text book I’m using, Psychology: Frontiers and Applications, divides the realms of study into biological (in AQAL, the UR), individual (the UL) and environmental (the LR and LL), which is fine as far as it goes, but so far lectures have included a strong bias toward the merely biological. While remaining very much open as a student, I do find a less than integral presentation of this incredibly rich landscape to unnecessarily limit opportunity for exploration of what is happening and why. Even just understanding that our minds arise in all four quadrants would clarify so very much.

The shakeup has especially touched the field of psychoanalysis. In “Patching Up the Frayed Couch” a bleak present of exploring the interior of a person is painted.

And this isn’t even mentioning the weakening of the field by pre-rational silliness and little coherency in the field when it came to mapping out just what was happening! In “The Changing Face of Psychoanalysis” from Mind Hacks, another, more insightful, look at the problems facing psychoanalysis is given, pointing out the difficulties of giving credibility to a discipline with hard to pin down results.

Without a coherent framework for considering the contributions of neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, behaviorism, psychodynamics and other assets, it seems there is more infighting and confusion than understanding and benefit being offered to the world. This disjointed appearance is possibly the biggest obstacle in mass and personal appreciation for the sciences of the mind. In the coming years we should work so that focus will shift to those who can deftly and accessibly map out the dimensions of our minds and consciousness.

On Saturday William at Integral Options Cafe wrote of his interpretation of A Mind So Rare by Merlin Donald in “The Integral Mind” and William followed up with a simple expression of what a more comprehensive view of the mind is.

For a clear look at the leading edge of understanding consciousness without reductionism, I highly recommend Ken Wilber‘s “An Integral Theory of Consciousness“.

Change, change, change, that’s the story of this month. It’s been good to shake things up, even though it knocked me out of my system of getting things done. I’ll do a quick and dirty run though what has been captivating me, keeping me captive and capsizing my attempts to build an efficient routine.

I’ve been back studying at Dalhousie University for over a week now. I’m enjoying being a student again, and have settled in fairly comfortably. I’m still working out a proper system for having everything run smoothly and to fit everything into my days that I want to, but that’s in the works.

I find that to feel my best I need to be attentive to every aspect of my life. Having gotten out of resistance training, meditation and writing patterns, as well as not eating the the ways I should, I’ve had a tangle of complications muddying my body, mind and spirit. My usual energy, clarity and connection have lapsed, quite frustratingly. Walking more is a help, and that’s something I want to include increasingly often. Not only is it good physically, but it also gives me a bit of a sanctuary in a life that is mostly encased in shared space.

I also should start making chilled teas each day. I haven’t been having much tea this month, and hot drinks just don’t get me going as well.

I’m getting hooked on Nerdcore, hip hop’s brainy branch – not naked girls playing with technology (but I’m still down with that). MC Frontalot, Nursehella, Lil’ Nix, MC Chris, MC Hawking and Optimus Rhyme infuse a spread of hip hop styles with smart, geeky flows. What first seems an impossible pairing actually works incredibly well.

What else? Wednesday I was at a taping of a guest list-only Buck 65 performance for Pop In Session; I’m looking forward to his upcoming album and future shows by our dirt road hip hop hero. I saw a delightful fire show Friday night. I have a white outfit and a leather jacket now, quite out of character. My phone (and soon my laptop) is adorned with beautiful stickers made by Tego. The dormant gamer geek in me gets a kick out of buying a bottle of Infinite Health.

In my life there have been few things that have shaken me and improved how I live as much as my discovery of the integral approach to living and understanding the world.

Integral as a theory is a synthesis of the truths from various disciplines, from hard sciences to religion to art to medicine to business, and from every aspect of our lives. As a lived experience, it is a comprehensive, practical and exciting emergence that offers a step beyond the partial and blinded approaches we have all lived through; every aspect of our lives enters into the embrace of our awareness and we can no longer ignore the invigorating delight of turning from nothing. It is a way to be more free and more whole that we are all called to.

But a “Theory of Everything” is incredibly daunting to many people. Ken Wilber, the leading integral thinker, has produced many long, intimidating and appendix-heavy books that detail his integral theory with incredible accuracy. 800 pages can understandably scare off a lot of people who could benefit themselves and others by applying the integral framework to their lives and their work.

I’ve been wishing for a book that I could give my parents, who are elementary school teachers, in order to introduce them to this integral stuff I’ve been so excited by for a while now. They’re the sort of people who don’t have a lot of time for theoretical reading but I suspect who would understand and appreciate integral. Finally, with Ken Wilber’s new book, The Integral Vision, we have a genuinely accessible and beautiful introduction to integral.

Subtitled “A Very Short Introduction to the Revolutionary Integral Approach to Life, God, the Universe and Everything”, The Integral Vision presents an integral framework – in the form of AQAL – in an entertaining and informative way, without some of the headier data and concepts that may turn some off from learning to use this valuable approach. The presentation is simple but still with a great scope, as all the major ingredients of the theory are explored and practical applications in personal growth (Integral Life Practice), business, medicine, ecology and religion are laid out. The text is peppered with beautiful illustrations, diagrams and photographs that bring the book to life, emphasizing that integral theory is a map of real territory that is meant to be lived with all the spice, fire and light we can bring to it.

There is no better way to dive into integral, so if you haven’t joined this adventure yet, what are you waiting for? Ken’s closing is a clarion call for our future:

Holons reminds us that we and all things are “always partial, already whole“.

The site began as a monthly collection of articles, links and other bits viewed through an integral lens but has shifted to become a wonderful blog with an integral orientation. The content is filtered by fine editors and includes a superb range of content from the fascinating (see “A Post-Metaphysical Interpretation of Synchronicity“) to the lighthearted (see “Inside Joke“). The latest news about Integral Institute, Integral Life and Ken Wilber will be shared as well. I’ve been very impressed with this initial offering and am looking forward to seeing Holons reach its stride. This is already one of the richest sources of content going now.

Some highlights from Holons:
“The Last Question”
“What is Integral Art to You?”
“Kevin Kelly’s Out of Control”
“Alan Watts and South Park”