[Thomas Schur]

Regarding the recent election, I wanted to offer some thoughts on perspective, namely on how the human has access to, and interacts with, the process of cosmogenesis

For me, I think in terms of access to the processes of the universe through the self. It does not make sense to me to think in terms of a global perspective that I am somehow a part of, with simply a presumption of a self. I see the self as a portal to global processes and as such requires careful attention.

The Gestalt framework of figure/ground can be helpful here, where one’s overall perception includes both as they form a whole. You cannot have one without the other, like yin and yang. But the focus shifts back and forth between what is immediate (figural) and what is in the background (ground).

In the Deeptime Perspective, at times the universe is figural as it dominates the current awareness, with the self in the background. At other times the self is figural and dominant, with the universe in the background. A person at higher levels of differentiation can shift back and forth with one’s experiences, attending to what is important at that time. However, anxiety disrupts this flow back and forth as one get locked in on one side or the other, in this case the universe or the self. And then the person makes poor decisions, driven by attempts to relieve anxiety.

For me it is important to focus on the self initially as one deals with the anxiety generated by the recent election, which now permeates many relationships, close to home in one’s family and in society at large. This anxiety that spreads through these networks of relationships compounds the challenge to remain calm, within those systems, and maintain a balanced perspective of figure and ground, the self and the universe.

I think it is a distortion to think of the disruption created by this election in terms of cataclysm. Instead, it does make sense to me to think of it as major disruption in human relationships at this current time in history. And so I think it is important to think in terms of one’s own reactions before framing it in the larger perspective of the universe. Actually, one could think of this disruption in human relationships as an opportunity to manage one’s own anxiety to get to a calmer place that advances noogenesis in human relationships, which can facilitate the larger process of cosmogenesis.

This can happen as one can focus on oneself, with awareness of one’s own reactive patterns of handling anxiety, and thereby gain a more functional perspective of figure and ground, as the focus shifts back and forth between the self and the universe.

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