Sacred irreverence? What is sacred to you? What could be more sacred than your relationship to what is most important to you? Growing up in a world that trains us for obedience and conformity, having an authentic, powerful and sacred relationship with what’s most important to you can be quite challenging. Such a relationship determines the extent of one’s capacity to love, to create and to act courageously. That relationship is at the heart of the work we do here at VisionForce. Essentially we deal with that relationship in a way that restores and builds ones power to stand, to love, to see (vision), to act (with courage), to be true, etc. Said another way it gives people access to the courage, strength, compassion and vision to be the change they seek in the world, and to inspire others to do the same.
So, what of the title of this blog entry? What do you hold as sacred? Anything? What? If our relationship to our deepest values and vision were sacred to us, perhaps our strategies for protecting the sacredness of that relationship could also be held as sacred. Irreverence–is there a use for it in this respect?
Consider that it’s the social customs and societal norms, or more specifically the shame dynamics, that keep most people from acting in integrity with their highest values or being authentic. When the time comes to be true to what you hold dear or to compromise it to gain or keep the acceptance or others, who do you choose to be? At times when others feign reverence for customs that would have you betray your highest sense of self, who do you choose to be? Is there a place for irrreverence? Could there be a value in holding irreverence as sacred in some contexts? Comment below.
We laugh at different times and for different reasons. Why do you laugh? Consider that laughter is a release. When we laugh, it’s often an involuntary response to a paradigm shift.
Suppose you live a life of frustration, anger and despair because “the man” has got you down. In your world, life is hard and it’s all the fault of “the man.” So, someone tells a story about “the man,” and it engages your paradigm and all the weight you place on your paradigm. Suddenly, there is a paradigm shift, as the story teller makes a turn in his story that has you see things from a whole new perspective–with “the man” as the butt of the joke. And you laugh. Of course there’s an art to this, and if you’re really good at shifting paradigms in a way that elicits laughter, you can hit the road and make a lot of money from the stage.
This begs the question, what do you laugh at? What you laugh at and why you laugh says a lot about the paradigm you operate from.
Since I was a kid I laughed when I could elicit a dramatic emotional reaction from someone. Looking back, I can see a number of dynamics in play. For one, it allowed me to see myself as “superior,” because they were reacting emotionally for no sound reason. They were in my eyes less mature. (how arrogant!) Indeed, it was an easy shortcut to feel good about myself as an adolescent. In time, it evolved me such that I was freer from the shame and guilt pressures of authority and the majority than the average bear. I did come to pride myself in being “wise” and mature, and in many ways this led me down the path of learning more and more about psychology, philosophy, the mind, etc.
Generally, anyone who placed what I deemed to be unnecessary weight on a certain issue (especially the issue of their image in others’ eyes) was fair game for teasing.
There were (and are) not many limits to this. I would quite often (and still do) make a fool of myself to have someone look at me weird or have them think I’m someone I’m not. For example, I may intentionally respond in an exaggerated childish way around a friend who places a lot of weight in appearing mature. I elicit a certain look from them and then I laugh and we laugh (if they can laugh about it). Or, I’ll pretend to morally judge someone for an action they are trying not to be judged for. I elicit a defensive response, and I laugh and we laugh (if they can laugh about it). There is no seeming end to this. If someone is very uptight about any aspect of life or themselves, I’ll play the role that has us both be able to laugh about the extra weight they’re giving it. If someone is extra concerned about ego and people who have an extra large one, I’ll make comments that have them seeing me this way. And often, people don’t find such things funny. And it irks them that I laugh it off.
There are many things I do not find funny, however. When someone laughs at or judges the awkward person who is risking the esteem of others to follow her own mind and heart, I don’t. Not only do I not find it funny, it bothers me. A lot of people also laugh at the heroes, the successful people, because it makes them uncomfortable to either be seen as less than or to be reminded how they themselves are not making the effort required to be as successful. There was a video on the internet I saw of a many spitting in Bill Gates face. A lot of people found this funny. To me, nothing could be less funny.
Both of these things make people uncomfortable. Both of these things remind a person how they could also be risking the esteem of others to follow their mind and heart. We want to look good all the way to the top, but we fear stepping out and looking foolish. So we’re uncomfortable around the awkward person who is stretching themselves beyond their given social position/identity. We’re uncomfortable around the people who have risked what we don’t dare to risk. It’s easy to laugh at them. (And it’s interesting how Hollywood generally only dares to inspire us to a certain extent before poking fun at the hero… thereby diminishing the power of a movie that could have been incredibly powerful. Armageddon is a great example.)
Of course those who stay “inside the box” laugh at those who flounder outside of the box–the rebels, the radicals, the visionaries. Those who can’t take this social pressure jump back inside the box sooner or later, or live some kind of compromised existence on the edge of the box or close to the box (and they suffer on the edge of true freedom).
And, it’s important for these who stray from the box of the majority’s and authority’s norms to have the freedom to laugh at the pressure exerted by the masses to return to the box. You, the visionary, make them very uncomfortable. They seek a reason to laugh at you. Yet you are the one who is risking your social position and your very psychological identity to “be the change,” and come hell or high water, you WILL make this world a better place for all of us–them included. So, your freedom to laugh at the pressure they place upon you to fit in or be normal is invaluable to you–and thus to them.
Now, what’s interesting is that your laughter can help them shift their own paradigm and free themselves from their box. Your laughter can help free them to stand for their own values and vision, in the face of the world’s judgments and criticism.
Just think about why you laugh and when you laugh. Are you liberating yourself and others?
Laughter can free you from the external pressure to conform, or it can free you from the internal pressure to follow your values and dreams in the face of external pressure to conform.
So laugh your ass off today as you step free from what the critics and doubters might think. Free yourself to be yourself.
Post your comments below.
Over here at VisionForce we’ve been asking some radical questions that are evolving our entire idea of how we can best facilitate the coming waves of evolution. From the Stone Age to the Information Age, civilization has been defined largely by the tools of the times. New tools give us more power to do and to be. And as we realize there is more we can do and be, the more we elevate our ideas about what should be. And as we elevate our ideas about what should be, we change our ideas of what we should do and be. And as those change, we change the behaviors that we shame and honor.
The more one sees the extent to which shame and honor dynamics shape human behavior, the more one can begin to grasp the size of the waves of change that are headed our way. The tools that we as humans are just beginning to build give us access to power in a whole new realm–the realm of consciousness. (Before you assume that I am referring to the common tools you’ll find in the domains of religion, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, sociology, human development, self-help or New Age; I’ll tell you I’m talking about a Next level of tools that will arise in those domains. That Next level of tools is emerging as we develop more valid models of consciousness.)
These tools will give us a greater ability to create the kind of world that really works for all of us, and with that greater power, our standards, values and expectations will rise. Then, so too will the behaviors that we shame and honor shift. And with that shift will come the kind of mass behavioral change that will define the coming age, which may very well come to be know as the Age of Consciousness (or the Age of Vision, if I had my druthers). So sudden, so deep and so widespread will the changes be that the word revolution may apply better than evolution.
And the world that will emerge will be, I believe, brighter and more glorious than many of us dare to imagine. For most of our existence the power of our tools in the physical world have surpassed the power of our tools in our inner world. When MLK said, we have guided missles and misguided men, he was pointing to a dangerous dynamic that has only grown worse in the centuries since his death. Will we evolve the technology to be ethical enough and live together in peace and prosperity before we annihilate ourselves and each other? For the last two centuries the light of hope at the end of that tunnel seemed to grow smaller and smaller.
All that, I see, is about to change.
Here at VisionForce, we think we have some truly cutting edge ideas and tools in this new domain, created from our emerging model of consciousness. And the questions we’re asking now are having us look at how we can facilitate the coming revolution the best, rather than how we can best sell the ideas or the tools to people. These questions are changing everything.
This is just a heads up! 😉 Watch for ongoing evolution here at VisionForce over the coming months.
What do you see? Add your voice below.
A message I made for you at 3:45am this morning, because there was something I had to say. I welcome your reply in Comments below.
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I just found a very cool tool for visionaries and revolutionaries taking a stand for something. It’s called PledgeBank and it’s a way of generating commitments by having others see that they won’t be acting alone, but rather they will only be obligated to act if the agreed upon total number of people have also agreed to act with you.
Of course, it can be even more inspiring to take a stand regardless of what others choose to do. I could see the use for a variation of the pledge, where an individual can say “I am doing this regardless,” or something similar. It sounds a bit weak to have the pledges be “I commit do X, but only if ____# other people commit to do it too.”
Still, a very cool concept, and yet another way the internet is empowering those of us who are williing to take a stand for what matters, live from our own vision and inspire others to stand with us.
(I was invited to sign a new initiative by the Free State Project, as I am seriously interested in the idea of what kind of world could be created with human beings placing their trust in vision force, rather than political force. It’s a bit radical, but hey, I think there’s something worth standing for, and I’m already committed to the original Free State Project pledge.)
Comments? Other resources for mobilizing grass roots efforts? Post below.
preBeta… that’s the mode we’re in here at VisionForce.com. Nearly 4 years ago we held our first-ever event, a boot camp. It was the first public introduction of the VisionForce methodologies, after 6 years of research and development. Since then, we’ve been testing all sorts of ways to deliver these concepts and methods, from face to face boot camps (intensive small group trainings), to weekend workshops (less formal), to on-line automated interactive programs, to tele-workshops, to 2-month tele-programs (delivered via conference call and on-line), to internet membership areas, to on-line ebooks, etc. And we’ve also been “finding our niche,” and how to best communicate what we offer.
Bottom line is, we’re still in the inquiry. We’re still testing new approaches and models (as you’ve noticed if you’ve been following us long). Well, rather than try to present a polished image that gives people the illusion that we are a more established company or institution, let’s say exactly what phase of the business we’re in and tell people what they can expect.
We’re still in start-up mode, and you can expect changes–lots of them. A great way of identifying a web site or project that is still in early testing stages is to call it a beta version. But what about a web site or project that is not even ready for wide public testing, and is still in the early development stage? “pre-Beta” is the term we’ll be using.
Yes, many of the programs and events we offer produce incredible results (and as you’ve probably noticed get incredible reviews), so the “technology” that we offer is quite well developed. What is as yet quite undeveloped is our organizational model, including our on-line structures.
So, if we simply say we’re in the preBeta phase, then you will know to expect rapid evolution (change) here at VisionForce.com.
What we want to do is build the kind of structure that will allow people who are ready (you) to join with us in creating the kind of change the world needs now. There are a lot of things in the works, so stay tuned. In the mean time, expect change–lots of it–here at VisionForce.com. And please sound in with your feedback and comments to the blog (below).
Watch this… Oprah’s doing what something incredible… something VisionForce will be doing at some point, no matter how long it takes. To all my Africa friends… we’re coming back! And we’re going to BUILD! Who wants in? Leave your comments and ideas below.
A Poem…
You take a stand, you make waves
that can’t be ignored.
Some fear they’ll be crushed
and swim for shore.
But some say “surfs up!”
and grab their boards.
Take a stand or not
the choice is yours.
But if you don’t stand
the world will be bored.
And, if you ask me
Life is too short
So, to stand or not?
To stand, of course!
-King Matu
Watch this presentation by William McDonough, a man who refers to human beings as “designers,” and looks at everything we see in our world as our intentional creation, so as to take full responsibility for creating the kind of world we really want. If you’re in the Power To Stand course (register free), this man is exemplifying the distinction between Positionary and Visionary. He speaks of the positionaries on each side, Capitalists and Environmentalists, and unites people in a stand for shared values and a vision that inspires all sides to step forward from behind the walls of their position. It’s the new revolutionaries who will change the world. They are visionaries, not positionaries (the distinction is here). The next revolution is our evolution from a positionary consciousness to a visionary consciousness.
Please comment on the video here.
Here's the follow up to last week's interview with everyday visionary, Audrey Parker. If you're a visionary or you want to be one, listening to the full audio will fill your spirit. It gets deeply moving, and you get to see the process of how one EVOLVES as a visionary.
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