My hope is that the stories here might assist in moving inspirational impulses, centripetal impulses, into actionable service. Service to the self, to the planet. It seems that the majority of hard working, kind, generous people can move up to, but not cross, the line of action. The spontaneous winds of their inspirational impulses blows against a wall of (here, you might want to fill in the blank) and the moment of action passes. It is easy to handwring in a culture within which there appear to be too many issues to process wisely, within which there is a dark side for being a whistleblower, within which there are so many enticing diversions.
Against this cultural tide there are always a few innovators regarding almost any issue that give voice to an outrage, sense of injustice, description of inefficiency. A tug of war begins which can last decades, and, generally, the perspective of the few morphs to become the perspective of the many, tho not without a whole lot of distress, perhaps blood, often deaths.
I find myself unwilling to imagine that this clearly adversarial process of cultural evolution is the only way forward. What does it take to move contention to cooperation? And move it much more quickly than two or three generations?
The journey of a thousand miles, tho, doesn't begin until we take the first step.
I've got my culturally-certified degrees in knowing—they are little more than having those shoes. I invite the reader to observe the unfolding process by which his or her first, and subsequent, steps have been, and will continue to be, taken. I can't describe clearly where the journey will take me/we, tho my intention is that it move toward maturity. No one could describe the cultural mainstream in America today as mature. (I heard recently that when asked, audiences consistently describe the maturity level of this country as adolescent.)
I can't say that American maturity will come with suitable doses of caffeine, a working alarm clock, a rigorous cultural college education. I think it will come faster when more of us move, however it might work for us, from being reactive to being proactive, from "ain't it awful" conversations to crafting a consensus process focusing on the problem, not the positions of the participants.
The goal of this material is to nudge you to move past the "where are my shoes" or "these aren't good enough shoes" to just putting what is old and comfortable on and getting on the path. It might mean giving up junk anything (tv, food, conversations, unexamined beliefs, ...)—low value added fluff—and upping the frequency level, upping the value added, upping the self-respect, upping the standard within which you operate. This isn't a guilt trip invocation. It is an invitation. The energy flows better. There are way more smiles all around. Your place in the world becomes an unfolding welcoming.
"Centripetus" captures the essence of this return force which lives in, informs and infuses all material in the universe, from sub-atomic particles to those clusters of atoms that make up everything (rocks, stars, humans).
The center contains nothing. It is silence, harmony, unity, innocence, oneness. These words can only point toward this empty everything, as words themselves have opposites, and the center has no opposite. Each impulse, thought, action toward the center carries with it joy, love, connection, peace, gratitude.
Ideas are like putting on those hiking shoes in anticipation of that first step. My motivation for telling you what is underway for me is to offer you what might be the equivalent of a jump start for that possibly-underutilized engine in your head and heart.
Welcome, which puts "we" before "me", to taking that first step.