The world is a complex place. This complexity can be overwhelming, and it’s no wonder that most people choose to narrow their focus to their lives and their loved ones. In hyper-individualist cultures, especially, we are consistently pushed to care only for ourselves and those closest to us. But we cannot build connected communities from this place of separation. A Practice In Being is an invitation to a new way of being–not one that denies the complexity of the world around us, but that sees the complexity and practices sitting within it.
Connected Communities Exist Within Complex Realities
Every person has a unique perception, shaped by factors as simple as the family they were born into and as complex as the communities they’ve been a part of. We all live and walk through complexity every single day. But depending on certain factors, that complexity may be invisible to us.
Yes, I’m talking about privilege.
Privilege isn’t about being handed unfair advantages. It refers to factors (often outside of our personal control) that take away hurdles and challenges that others experience. Privilege makes certain parts of our system invisible because we never have to face them. There are many kinds of privilege: degrees of whiteness, socioeconomic status, sex and gender, sexuality, and health are just a few dimensions of privilege. These dimensions interact–they are connected–and that’s the basic premise of intersectionality.
If you were born as a white, heterosexual male, with good health and in a middle-class family, there are entire realities you will never experience. Myself as a white woman in fairly good health, will never experience certain realities, even with my gendered and queer lived experiences.
But truly connected communities never leave the complexity of reality behind, because connected communities are built with a deep appreciation and practice of diversity and inclusion. Even when we are born into privilege, we can learn about the lived experiences of others. We can choose to see the complexity of the world and systems we live in, but to do that, we need to speak to people who have a different lens from us. That means connected communities integrate and value differences because it’s through integrating and listening that we can see the full complexity of our collective reality.
Why Do We Need To Care About Complexity?
In both public health and climate adaptation, I was introduced to a term: maladaptation. Maladaptation happens when someone makes a choice to fix a problem, but unknowingly creates worse fallout in another part of the community. This is exactly what happens when we don’t do the work to see our privilege and understand the full complexity of our communities.
One of the most insidious parts of privilege is that in rendering parts of reality invisible, the negative fallout of certain decisions can also be invisible. That is, until enough of that negative fallout is created and our privilege can no longer protect us.
We are watching this happen live with the climate crisis. Capitalism only cares about accumulating wealth. So, when marginalized communities–such as Indigenous peoples–started to blow the whistle about the ecosystem and health impacts of fossil fuels, people privileged by capitalism turned a deaf ear.
It didn’t matter. They were making money. Money brought power, and power meant they were safe.
Now, we, our children, and our grandchildren are facing the fallout of these capitalist choices. Rising temperatures, increased droughts, and severe weather are already killing people. There is a push to limit immigration and acceptance of refugees in countries like Canada, which is another attempt to hide the ways global powers in the West are making the rest of the world unsafe and uninhabitable through wars, genocide, and climate recklessness.
This is a high-level example of exactly what happens when we choose to shut our eyes to complexity.
But the same influences play out on a smaller scale every single day, and that’s exactly where Vibrant Systems operates.
We Need To Be Aware, But Awareness Is Hard
I won’t deny it. It is hard to be aware of the chaos that complexity brings. It’s hard to stay engaged when there is pain, grief, and helplessness on a global scale.
But in truth, we aren’t as helpless as we might feel.
Our power starts by choosing to face the complexity and to build connected communities, even and especially when the complexity and chaos feel overwhelming.
Why does connection matter so much?
Well, apart from the very real benefits that come from building communities, mutual aid, and social supports connected communities have greater power. When we are aware of the system we are in, we can make choices within our little sphere. Because the system is connected, those little choices reverberate through the system, affecting change elsewhere.
Our choices matter because our choices show others they can make similar choices. Those choices echo up, like fractals, changing the system on greater and greater levels.
But it starts by choosing to exist in connected communities and choosing to exist in different ways.
After all, it’s not enough to just be aware of other experiences in the system. If we are building connected communities, we need to actually listen when someone points out a pattern. Indigenous peoples, Black people, and the disabled community have been pointing out the patterns we are seeing now for decades.
These patterns grew louder and louder because people in positions of privilege did not listen and did not act. At most, bandage solutions were applied to quiet the voices pointing out the path we were collectively walking.
But this path is far too loud now. We need to act, and we need to act together.
A Practice In Being: The Doorway You’ve Been Waiting For
When we’re born into privilege, we are often taught we don’t actually need others. We are fed a belief that our success eased by privilege is actually just merit. And the connections across the system that paved our path are invisible–when we are privileged, they are often non-existent.
Learning to step into connected communities from this vantage point is difficult. It requires a good deal of humility, unlearning, and discomfort tolerance. We may experience any number of emotions in this process, from guilt to anger to grief.
I know. I’ve been walking this pathway for most of my life.
But, as much as these uncomfortable emotions may make us want to hide and isolate ourselves, we can’t do that. The more we check out or disengage from the system, the less power we have to make real change.
That’s exactly why I am creating A Practice In Being. This space is for anyone who is called to participate in connected communities, whether you are building your own community or are a part of an existing one. It is a free, virtual gathering space for those seeking to practice sitting in discomfort, listening to other perspectives, and choosing hope and vision. Because everything I’ve talked about in this article is something we can practice.
The more we practice together, the more powerful we become. The more powerful we become, the greater the impact we can make.
Vibrant Systems Supports Connected Communities Beyond Practice
A Practice In Being is an excellent resource for those seeking to connect and learn with others. However, not everyone is there yet, and that’s okay! On my own journey, it took me years before I knew how to sit with discomfort and be comfortable participating in conversations that made me uncomfortable. Like I said, it’s a skill we can learn!
Vibrant Systems offers a variety of entry points into communities for exactly this reason.
If you’re a beginner–you’re just waking up to the patterns and systems we are in–I invite you to first take a deep breath. Everyone starts somewhere, and I am so glad you have arrived. If you’ve made it through this article, you’ve already sat with some pretty heavy content. I celebrate you for that.
Connected communities are built as more and more leap into uncertainty.
But are you ready to expand your capacity to sit with discomfort and drive change? If you are, Elements of Self is a comprehensive video course that gives you the tools you need to find balance and energy within the complexity of the world around us. This video course invites you to see the complexity of the natural world as a teacher. As you move through the lessons of the four elements and their unique application to you, you also gain the skills you need to find your inner balance. When you find your balance, you are empowered to stay present and stay powerful amidst this chaos.
And maybe you’re not a beginner. Maybe you’ve been doing this work for a while. Maybe you’re ready to start building empowered, connected communities yourself. If you are, that’s fantastic! Welcome!
If this is where you are, and you’d like someone to walk this path with you, check out my Community Mentorship program. Like shadow work meets community building, this program is a 1-on-1 mentorship course designed to empower you on your journey to help empower others.
Start your journey today by stopping by for a free 20-minute consultation.
Let’s make your story a vibrant one!
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