Equifinality

Every member of a living system has equal opportunity to change it   The whole system’s principle of “equifinality,” a term coined by the father of systems theory, Ludwig von Bertalanffy, holds that in open systems, for those that have external interactions, a given end state can be reached by many potential means. To lock […]

Models And Modeling

Children are influenced most by what they see Joseph Chilton Pearce, a respected author on the subject of brain development, wrote that a child’s capacity to operate in the world is determined entirely by the models he experiences in everyday life. He observed that all human intelligences—music, math, art, logic, mechanics, even emotions and intuition—are built into […]

Purpose And Mission Statements

A gateway to peace of mind Twenty-twenty will be remembered as a year filled with crises. The Coronavirus pandemic, Black Lives Matter, political stalemate, police brutality and social polarization top the list. And scientists say the coming decade will be the tipping point in climate change. All can be seen as a catalyst, moments when […]

A Paradigm Shift In Consciousness

Tenants of the shift to interdependence, unity and love Diverse cells rise, become illuminated and enter a circle of light, expanded consciousness. Higher yet is the Great Mystery where infinite potential resides. According to Mirriam-Webster Dictionary, a paradigm shift is an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something […]

Models And Modeling

Joseph Chilton Pearce, a respected author on the subject of brain development, wrote that a child’s capacity to operate in the world is determined entirely by the models he experiences in everyday life. He observed that all human intelligences—music, math, art, logic, mechanics, even emotions and intuition—are built into us genetically at birth. As potentials. “Their awakening,” […]

VI. Equifinality

  This is the 6th  in a series of postings on the theme of whole systems thinking. The whole system’s principle of “equifinality,” a term coined by the father of systems theory, Ludwig von Bertalanffy, holds that in open systems, for those that have external interactions, a given end state can be reached by many […]

VI. Depth Of Field

Technically, “depth of field” (DOF) is the optical phenomenon of a lens that expresses the distance about the plane of focus where objects appear acceptably sharp in an image. Creatively speaking, it’s the relative degree of sharpness between objects that are close to or farther away from a lens. When both distances, near and far, […]

Happy Incidences

  Look closely at this image. Anyone who has engaged in sustained creative activity, irrespective of medium and expression, has encountered a multitude of “happy accidents,” positive outcomes that occur spontaneously, without intention or planning. The occurrence of a dragonfly in this image was one of them. Somewhere in my early sixties I’d experienced so many […]

What Lifts Us Up?

  Spring came early this year. The crocuses and daffodils are already in full bloom. Having made the above image last week I thought about using it here because daffodils represent rebirth. This being the Easter season I thought that “resurrection”  might be an appropriate theme, but then I learned that strictly speaking, the word refers to an individual being […]

Hope

  While this image calls me to contemplate the subject of “hope,” one of the experiences I hope for this summer is only somewhat represented here. Eliminate 99.9% of the people and everything else on the sand, and that would be more like the place in Florida where my family has vacationed for the past […]