There is so much good stuff in this posting, I'm not sure where to start. I have a deep sense of gratitude that you have "stayed the journey" with the question of negative emotions, and can now articulate so well the need and groundwork for their rehabilitation. Having been part of this conversation for 25+ years I can see, (remembering the early attempts to communicate these understandings, and several attempts thereafter), that depth and clarity have reached a level of mastery whereby to read it now is an experience suffused with joy and immense appreciation. I hope other readers know how lucky they are.
Aww thank you so much for this loving comment and beautiful mirror to my work, when my own inner mirrors ~ as we both remember ~ has often been fogged up with self-doubt and the mists of confusion...
In deep appreciation and gratitude for your continued support 💖🙏
This is excellent. Although I admit I am likely biased, since I found myself nodding along in recognition the entire way through.
Really liked how you brought in the life context of Ayn Rand and Descartes (and referred to them as “influencers” lol) - bringing intuitive emotional context to the rationalist ideas that have driven western culture for quite some time now.
So much in the Heartwood already! “Emocean” … Nature mirroring and sharing emotion… the collective Permafrost (was just having a conversation with someone about the massive frozen glacier of collective human emotion that is now beginning to thaw) … the interwoven personal sharing of your own experience … the pictures and quotes…
Thank you so much. Well, we're getting straight to the heartwood of the matter...
My favourite chapter so far too!
I have always been curious about the lives of people who shaped our collective thought and culture. Their theories and philosophies cannot be viewed as separate from their personal experiences (I must have intuitively sensed that). Now, in the light of trauma research, it all makes so much more sense. And yes, calling them 'influencers' ~ it was my creative daimon who made that up on the spot...
I love the synchrony of your conversation about 'frozen glacier of collective human emotion'❣️ We can't make this stuff up. THIS is symbiopoiesis. 💕🙏
Good to know, and I can see why. It's one of the most important pieces of this puzzle, especially because it has been 'not known', or ignored, and vehemently denied for so long. That in itself should give us an indication...
There is a lot I can say on the subject of human emotions, but you covered it well in this article. I do not fear my negative emotions; I do not see it as necessary and good to bottle them up.
But I have also learned in my older age (66) not to share everything I feel except with a few individuals ready and capable to apprehend what I am communicating.
Trauma is very real and debilitating; this is particularly true of childhood trauma. We do not have to be victims, true; but unless we dig deep into our psyche, the trauma will have control of our lives.
It will not matter how much lies that you tell yourself---that you are "fine"--your body and your mind will say otherwise. Putting on a happy face will lead to setbacks, as will having "positive thoughts" and happy talk that are not real. Healing begins with truth telling; yes, it is painful but necessary. This has been my experience, and continues to be.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment Perry 💕🙏
We are of one generation (I am 68) and with the benefit of eldership + understanding the importance of processing emotions have (hopefully) gathered some wisdom through life.
I fully agree, it is not necessary to share emotions with others, or only some with a select few. I'm sure I'll get back to that topic in future chapters because there is a lot of misunderstanding around that too. And I'm very interested to hear your perspective!
Synchronosophy is a practice developed from doing regular 'trauma-workouts' ~ not because it was what I'd planned to do, but because I needed to do that work to make sure trauma didn't continue to control my life.
Wow. I’m sitting here in a void. Somewhere between body and soul. This piece just knocked me on my ass. I will have to read this one a few more times to take it all in. In some strange way I practised my own version of Synchronosophy. Somehow it came to me at a very young age. I realize there is still more to be revealed underneath my own permafrost. Thank you for guiding me to the places that I still need to dig. Emotions were always a place of confusion growing up in two cultures. My Greek half let them freely flow. My Celtic side, not so. I was a poem that danced between the two. Somewhere in that void lives the thirst to go deeper. Knowing there is more to set free and at the same time, a little fearful of
what might be waiting. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. 🙏❤️
Thank you so much Jamie. Yes, I believe there are many people who naturally practice some version of what I now capture in the term Synchronosophy. I am very curious to learn more about yours!!!
Let me just make a quick comment on the 'still need to dig' concept::
In Synchronosophy I am suggesting a 'non-dig-method' of inner work (a kind of 'permaculture approach to the inner soil'). I have found that there is not only no need to dig, but digging can also be counter productive (I'll get to that soon in the book)
And there is nothing to fear either. The only 'things' waiting for us in our inner wilderness are our own inner treasures, including::: gaining greater clarity, deeper wisdom, dormant potential, a stronger sense of belonging/ oneness... all good for great poetry❣️
Thank you so much for your courage and trust to come on this journey with me 💕🙏
Thanks, Veronika! I can’t wait to read on! I hear you on the digging. I believe I found the door in the cellar at a young age and have gone in and out many times, but I have not ventured to the deepest layers of the inner soil. I’m looking forward to follow the roots. Bless you. Thanks for the depth and the wisdom that you are slowly sharing. It’s definitely a slow pour so that the essence sinks in. Thank you. 🙏❤️
Well, it's such a complex topic. I'm not calculating what or at what speed to 'pour out' what I know. I am myself in the process of figuring out how to share what I have figured out over many years in communication with life itself. I am still in this process. I would say, what you are witnessing is my process in real time, inviting you to join in.
Another reason for the 'no dig method' is that all growth processes happen through sensitive phases. Digging to 'resolve trauma' can mess around with our own sensitive phases. Like breaking a cocoon before the butterfly has formed...
Sorry, I need to slightly rephrase that. Of course I know the method of Synchronosophy very well. I know it by heart (as Josh just reminded me)
But I haven't yet written about it in this way, woven together with my own story. With the experience of hundreds (if not thousands) of processes using the method, there is a lot of tacit knowledge. How do you bring all of that into a coherent book? I've got an outline, of course, but even I don't yet know what chapters 12 or 25 etc. will exactly look like.
It sounds to me that when you found the door in the cellar, it was not yet the right time to discover what lay dormant in the deepest layers of your inner soil.
I would like to add a small addendum to my comment. It is that communicating with non-human animals and communing with Nature has energized the process (and it is a continous process) of healing from earlier traumas.
Great addendum! Thank you!! If you have some experience with communication with our more-than-human fellow beings, I'd be VERY interested to know more (if you would like to share some).
That's what this substack called 'Synchronosophy' is intended for. It's not just about me sharing my stuff. I would love it to become a place where we can work things out together ~ all gaining some wisdom from one another, through 'communal pondering'.
Thank you, Veronika.I do have some thoughts on the matter, which I do share on this forum via my posts and notes. But I can also do so directly on your substack.
Here is what came to mind when reading your excellent post and your mentioning the sad life of Ayn Rand. Humans have a high tendency to want to impose their will on others, including on the natural world. When humans instead start to listen, observe and commune with the natural world, which includes other humans, there is connections and the forming of deep sustainable bonds.
good point! I'll have to pay more attention to your posts and notes. Just re-read your recent article on 'Feeding the Animals' and noticed how much I'd missed between the lines... Thank you for sharing your work 💕🙏
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) advocating that the purpose of the scientific endeavour was to "subdue Nature and make her our slave" has a lot to answer for regarding the use of will to dominate nature, (and other humans, since humans are part of Nature too). The christian church also has a lot to answer for regarding its desacralising of Nature and emphasising the afterlife as the main event, lowering the status of life on earth. Err, that was a bit of a long prelude to agreeing with you that listening to and communing with the natural world is a key priority in these days. All those ancient stone circles and other ancient temples weren't for nothing, or for mere self-aggrandisement (though maybe a bit of that too) but more principally for honouring and worshiping the living biosphere we call Mother Earth.
Yes, all quite true in the way that I now see it, having been trained long ago in the sciences and engineering. But, as some of us can see, Mother Earth will have her say.
As an engineer like myself, I'm wondering, Perry, if you have any particular thoughts on the 'proper' role of technology -- and why we humans have been gifted with the ability to invent and make things -- (we humans being Homo Faber [Man the animal who makes things] as well as Homo Sapiens). Indeed, by what parameters we might judge any particular technology as 'good', if such a thing is possible since they're a mixed bag ("guns don't kill, people do"). Anyway, I'm writing about it at the moment, so am just canvassing ideas.
Thst is a huge topic in itself, which deserves a post. Good of you to write about the proper role of technology.
As for me, shortlh after finishing engineering school (mech eng.) some 40 years ago, I ended up in the aerospace & defence industry. After 10 years and after Gulf War 1, I had an awakening and left a well-paid job and returned to school to study journalisn and English Lit. Completely different field, but it resonated deeply with me. Instead of solving diff equations and focusing on rigid (but necessary) design parameters, I read and wrote and started observing. It was what I needed.
I could say more, but I will flesh it out in a future post. Another thought. Have you read Norbert Wiener's The Human Use of Human Beings?
I resonate with this so much, especially ❤️ “emocean-sessions. I was lucky to live near the sea for six years and found so much solace and safe space in the rocky beaches and tides. Love your poetry about Grandmother Ocean.
Have you ever read Karla McLaren’s Language of Emotions?? Kindred concepts! 🤗
Thank you so much Malcolm! I have to admit, I'm no expert on permafrost. So I'm very glad to know that it's a good metaphor. And your advice on not boiling it sounds like a good one ~ including metaphorically.
There is so much good stuff in this posting, I'm not sure where to start. I have a deep sense of gratitude that you have "stayed the journey" with the question of negative emotions, and can now articulate so well the need and groundwork for their rehabilitation. Having been part of this conversation for 25+ years I can see, (remembering the early attempts to communicate these understandings, and several attempts thereafter), that depth and clarity have reached a level of mastery whereby to read it now is an experience suffused with joy and immense appreciation. I hope other readers know how lucky they are.
Aww thank you so much for this loving comment and beautiful mirror to my work, when my own inner mirrors ~ as we both remember ~ has often been fogged up with self-doubt and the mists of confusion...
In deep appreciation and gratitude for your continued support 💖🙏
Yes, Joshua her level of clarity is staggering. I feel very lucky to have discovered her at this point in time.
thank you so much Bertus! I believe this clarity comes from thousands of hours of inner work...
perhaps even other lifetimes too...
good point!
Thank you Bertus - and for noting/liking my commments too on previous postings by Veronika.
This is excellent. Although I admit I am likely biased, since I found myself nodding along in recognition the entire way through.
Really liked how you brought in the life context of Ayn Rand and Descartes (and referred to them as “influencers” lol) - bringing intuitive emotional context to the rationalist ideas that have driven western culture for quite some time now.
So much in the Heartwood already! “Emocean” … Nature mirroring and sharing emotion… the collective Permafrost (was just having a conversation with someone about the massive frozen glacier of collective human emotion that is now beginning to thaw) … the interwoven personal sharing of your own experience … the pictures and quotes…
This is my favourite chapter on Synchrosophy yet.
Oh, and your Conscious bias is very much appreciated. I'm so glad to hear you're nodding along (means I'm on the right track.... so far)
Thank you so much. Well, we're getting straight to the heartwood of the matter...
My favourite chapter so far too!
I have always been curious about the lives of people who shaped our collective thought and culture. Their theories and philosophies cannot be viewed as separate from their personal experiences (I must have intuitively sensed that). Now, in the light of trauma research, it all makes so much more sense. And yes, calling them 'influencers' ~ it was my creative daimon who made that up on the spot...
I love the synchrony of your conversation about 'frozen glacier of collective human emotion'❣️ We can't make this stuff up. THIS is symbiopoiesis. 💕🙏
Chapter 17 on retrocausality is definitely my favorite. 🤩 🩵
P.S.: only one more chapter to go to complete this groundwork... 17 is a safe bet
Good to know, and I can see why. It's one of the most important pieces of this puzzle, especially because it has been 'not known', or ignored, and vehemently denied for so long. That in itself should give us an indication...
There is a lot I can say on the subject of human emotions, but you covered it well in this article. I do not fear my negative emotions; I do not see it as necessary and good to bottle them up.
But I have also learned in my older age (66) not to share everything I feel except with a few individuals ready and capable to apprehend what I am communicating.
Trauma is very real and debilitating; this is particularly true of childhood trauma. We do not have to be victims, true; but unless we dig deep into our psyche, the trauma will have control of our lives.
It will not matter how much lies that you tell yourself---that you are "fine"--your body and your mind will say otherwise. Putting on a happy face will lead to setbacks, as will having "positive thoughts" and happy talk that are not real. Healing begins with truth telling; yes, it is painful but necessary. This has been my experience, and continues to be.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment Perry 💕🙏
We are of one generation (I am 68) and with the benefit of eldership + understanding the importance of processing emotions have (hopefully) gathered some wisdom through life.
I fully agree, it is not necessary to share emotions with others, or only some with a select few. I'm sure I'll get back to that topic in future chapters because there is a lot of misunderstanding around that too. And I'm very interested to hear your perspective!
Synchronosophy is a practice developed from doing regular 'trauma-workouts' ~ not because it was what I'd planned to do, but because I needed to do that work to make sure trauma didn't continue to control my life.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Wow. I’m sitting here in a void. Somewhere between body and soul. This piece just knocked me on my ass. I will have to read this one a few more times to take it all in. In some strange way I practised my own version of Synchronosophy. Somehow it came to me at a very young age. I realize there is still more to be revealed underneath my own permafrost. Thank you for guiding me to the places that I still need to dig. Emotions were always a place of confusion growing up in two cultures. My Greek half let them freely flow. My Celtic side, not so. I was a poem that danced between the two. Somewhere in that void lives the thirst to go deeper. Knowing there is more to set free and at the same time, a little fearful of
what might be waiting. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. 🙏❤️
Thank you so much Jamie. Yes, I believe there are many people who naturally practice some version of what I now capture in the term Synchronosophy. I am very curious to learn more about yours!!!
Let me just make a quick comment on the 'still need to dig' concept::
In Synchronosophy I am suggesting a 'non-dig-method' of inner work (a kind of 'permaculture approach to the inner soil'). I have found that there is not only no need to dig, but digging can also be counter productive (I'll get to that soon in the book)
And there is nothing to fear either. The only 'things' waiting for us in our inner wilderness are our own inner treasures, including::: gaining greater clarity, deeper wisdom, dormant potential, a stronger sense of belonging/ oneness... all good for great poetry❣️
Thank you so much for your courage and trust to come on this journey with me 💕🙏
Thanks, Veronika! I can’t wait to read on! I hear you on the digging. I believe I found the door in the cellar at a young age and have gone in and out many times, but I have not ventured to the deepest layers of the inner soil. I’m looking forward to follow the roots. Bless you. Thanks for the depth and the wisdom that you are slowly sharing. It’s definitely a slow pour so that the essence sinks in. Thank you. 🙏❤️
Well, it's such a complex topic. I'm not calculating what or at what speed to 'pour out' what I know. I am myself in the process of figuring out how to share what I have figured out over many years in communication with life itself. I am still in this process. I would say, what you are witnessing is my process in real time, inviting you to join in.
Another reason for the 'no dig method' is that all growth processes happen through sensitive phases. Digging to 'resolve trauma' can mess around with our own sensitive phases. Like breaking a cocoon before the butterfly has formed...
Sorry, I need to slightly rephrase that. Of course I know the method of Synchronosophy very well. I know it by heart (as Josh just reminded me)
But I haven't yet written about it in this way, woven together with my own story. With the experience of hundreds (if not thousands) of processes using the method, there is a lot of tacit knowledge. How do you bring all of that into a coherent book? I've got an outline, of course, but even I don't yet know what chapters 12 or 25 etc. will exactly look like.
And it’s a privilege to be a witness. 🙏❤️
the privilege of sharing is mutual
It sounds to me that when you found the door in the cellar, it was not yet the right time to discover what lay dormant in the deepest layers of your inner soil.
Those wings are still unfolding indeed!
enjoy the process. Mine too. The journey of a lifetime
I would like to add a small addendum to my comment. It is that communicating with non-human animals and communing with Nature has energized the process (and it is a continous process) of healing from earlier traumas.
Great addendum! Thank you!! If you have some experience with communication with our more-than-human fellow beings, I'd be VERY interested to know more (if you would like to share some).
That's what this substack called 'Synchronosophy' is intended for. It's not just about me sharing my stuff. I would love it to become a place where we can work things out together ~ all gaining some wisdom from one another, through 'communal pondering'.
Thank you, Veronika.I do have some thoughts on the matter, which I do share on this forum via my posts and notes. But I can also do so directly on your substack.
Here is what came to mind when reading your excellent post and your mentioning the sad life of Ayn Rand. Humans have a high tendency to want to impose their will on others, including on the natural world. When humans instead start to listen, observe and commune with the natural world, which includes other humans, there is connections and the forming of deep sustainable bonds.
good point! I'll have to pay more attention to your posts and notes. Just re-read your recent article on 'Feeding the Animals' and noticed how much I'd missed between the lines... Thank you for sharing your work 💕🙏
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) advocating that the purpose of the scientific endeavour was to "subdue Nature and make her our slave" has a lot to answer for regarding the use of will to dominate nature, (and other humans, since humans are part of Nature too). The christian church also has a lot to answer for regarding its desacralising of Nature and emphasising the afterlife as the main event, lowering the status of life on earth. Err, that was a bit of a long prelude to agreeing with you that listening to and communing with the natural world is a key priority in these days. All those ancient stone circles and other ancient temples weren't for nothing, or for mere self-aggrandisement (though maybe a bit of that too) but more principally for honouring and worshiping the living biosphere we call Mother Earth.
Yes, all quite true in the way that I now see it, having been trained long ago in the sciences and engineering. But, as some of us can see, Mother Earth will have her say.
As an engineer like myself, I'm wondering, Perry, if you have any particular thoughts on the 'proper' role of technology -- and why we humans have been gifted with the ability to invent and make things -- (we humans being Homo Faber [Man the animal who makes things] as well as Homo Sapiens). Indeed, by what parameters we might judge any particular technology as 'good', if such a thing is possible since they're a mixed bag ("guns don't kill, people do"). Anyway, I'm writing about it at the moment, so am just canvassing ideas.
Joshua
Thst is a huge topic in itself, which deserves a post. Good of you to write about the proper role of technology.
As for me, shortlh after finishing engineering school (mech eng.) some 40 years ago, I ended up in the aerospace & defence industry. After 10 years and after Gulf War 1, I had an awakening and left a well-paid job and returned to school to study journalisn and English Lit. Completely different field, but it resonated deeply with me. Instead of solving diff equations and focusing on rigid (but necessary) design parameters, I read and wrote and started observing. It was what I needed.
I could say more, but I will flesh it out in a future post. Another thought. Have you read Norbert Wiener's The Human Use of Human Beings?
I resonate with this so much, especially ❤️ “emocean-sessions. I was lucky to live near the sea for six years and found so much solace and safe space in the rocky beaches and tides. Love your poetry about Grandmother Ocean.
Have you ever read Karla McLaren’s Language of Emotions?? Kindred concepts! 🤗
yes. McLaren's book is in my bookshelf (along with a number of others) of course.
I love what a small world it is! :)
Very much appreciated your post. Especially Rand and Decarte.
Permafrost is a good metaphore necessitating periodic warming, but I would caution about boiling it.
Thank you.
Thank you so much Malcolm! I have to admit, I'm no expert on permafrost. So I'm very glad to know that it's a good metaphor. And your advice on not boiling it sounds like a good one ~ including metaphorically.
in gratitude for your appreciation and feedback
My pleasure.