“I am the integrated product of my animate and conceptual consciousness—an ongoing process of ‘I’ and ‘self’ continually interacting.”
Prairiewoods has always held a vision for me, a vision that includes understanding how I belong to this time and place. I have regularly attended Spirituality in the 21st Century, and this year is no exception. Jeremy Lent has a vision for an ecological civilization. He has written two books, The Patterning Instinct and The Web of Meaning, both of which provide understandings and insights into moving toward this ecological civilization.
So, in anticipation, I threw myself into both books as well as co-facilitating a six-session online dialogue focusing on the six major questions The Web of Meaning articulates. This blog post is an offering of a series of reflections on where these six overarching questions have taken me.
The first question in The Web of Meaning is “Who Am I?”—a necessary question if one is to understand belonging and purpose for oneself, and I’ve answered this question in many ways along the way—I am a woman, a mother, a sister, a teacher, a friend, a community member, etc. Jeremy asks me to go a bit broader to understand not just what I do, but also who am I as a human being. We are pretty marvelous creatures—as is all of creation—when one thinks about the millions of cells that comprise our physical bodies. All those cells know what they are supposed to do and be. Humans have evolved so that we now don’t just react to stimuli, we can make choices about how to respond. Our brains, our consciousnesses—feeling and thinking—are integrated and continually allow us to respond in ways that we choose. We can make decisions about how we live on this earth. As humans we create our worldviews that guide our ways of seeing our relationships, our environment, our own abilities, etc. Thinking about “Who am I?” in this sense has taken me into examining my actions—some conscious, some not so much.
The Who Am I? question is relational. I am who I am because of relationships inside and outside my body. As I age, I am much more aware of all the parts of my body and the relationships that have been part of me living all these years.
My experiences with others have certainly been part of forming who I am. The time spent developing a relationship with my backyard has opened me to knowing the trees and recognizing how each one grows and changes with each season.
Slowly, I am opening to the mind-boggling complexity of life. To realize the relationships within my own body that allow me, as a person, to live each day, has made me also realize that each living creature has these relationships that allow it to live—all the cells in my lovely cottonwood tree are doing the same things my cells are doing—living! So Who Am I?
Jeremy’s description of “Who Am I?”
“I am the integrated product of my animate and conceptual consciousness—an ongoing process of ‘I’ and ‘self’ continually interacting.”
tells me I am continually developing and growing and that the relationships need to be recognized, honored, and nurtured. The relationships are always available. There are always new relationships to enter.
I think I’d like to focus on each of the six big questions—so I will be looking at “Where Am I?” next. I’m wondering how all this work will open me to hear Jeremy’s presentation in ways that will move me toward living like I believe in an ecological civilization.
—Ellen Bruckner
Jeremy Lent is Prairiewoods’ Spirituality in the 21st Century presenter April 28–29, 2023. His book The Web of Meaning is broken down into six parts: Who Am I?, Where Am I?, What Am I?, How Should I Live?, Why Am I? and Where Are We Going? Ellen Bruckner’s blog series, spread over the next few months, will focus on these six topics. To read and discuss these topics with Ellen and others, join our Web-Weaving programs on Feb. 7 or Feb. 21. To join us for Spirituality in the 21st Century, visit www.Prairiewoods.org/spirituality-in-the-21st-century.