Both Sides, Now
My father once told me that “there are two sides to every story, and then there’s the truth”. In his concise way, he was illuminating a critical piece of sense-making. The thing we refer to as “the truth” is something we can only see through a glass, darkly…it is something known only as well as we know ourselves.
In a similar way, our limited ability to make sense of truth is reflected in the parable of the blind men and the elephant. A band of blind men encounter an obstacle on the path. One man grabs a leg and declares it is a tree. Another is wrapped by the trunk and proclaims it is a snake. Yet another is flicked by its tail and decides it is a rope. Another feels an ear and calls it a fan. We are always at the mercy of the limitations of our perception. The only chance we have to address the complex issues that currently and will continue to face us is discourse. Discourse requires the willingness to communicate what we “see” and have that heard and reflected back to us by others who are also having their own experience even and especially when we do not agree on what we perceive reality to be.
These days our elephant is the incredible vehicle of the internet. Never before in the history of our species has so much information been so accessible for so many. This technology has facilitated our ability to find facts, proof, evidence, and opinions for any position. Yet the process of inquiry has always been about more than simply researching information that supports what you already believe. In its essence, science is a process of inquiry. Science derives from philosophy and the dialectic tradition of Socrates. Dialectic means investigating the truth of opinions; it is the art of debate. The root of this word is shared with dialogue, which means “to converse with”. My point is simply this - in order to do science, to investigate truth, to practice inquiry, there must be an open, transparent exchange of ideas. Without this criterion, without a conversation to propel meaning, refine arguments, and clarify positions, we are doomed to hug one leg of the elephant and convince ourselves it’s a tree.
There are always (and at least) two sides to every story, which reminds me of the courage and humility in Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides, Now:
Oh, but now old friends they're acting strange
And they shake their heads and they tell me that I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living every dayI've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all
It is unlikely any of us will ever know all life has to offer. But we can engage with it in a way that is meaningful, draws us closer to the truth, and employs a best practice that was recorded long ago: charity does not behave unseemly, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil.
The Triad of Change
In mythology, the 3 Fates represent the forces that determine destiny. In Greek and Roman tradition, they are described as weavers: creating (Clotho), measuring (Lachesis), and cutting (Atropos) the thread of a human life. The number 3 is symbolically useful because it asks us to see relationships beyond the duality of black-white, either-or, us-them.
Chiropractic philosophy describes the Triune of Life as an interplay (force) between intelligence and matter. Life, after all, is the expression of intelligence through matter. We recognize the vital element that animates form. We also recognize the intelligent ways living things maintain their active organization in the face of a constantly changing and challenging environment.
The Triad of Change provides a useful model to understand the ways that energy organizes in living systems. As humans, we can consider Structure (the body we inhabit), Behavior (how we move ourselves), and Perception (how we view our relationship to ourselves in the environment). This model is appropriate in the context of chiropractic practice because we work with the nervous system. As chiropractors, we assess and support the ability of the nervous system to be more flexible and more adaptive. We do this directly through the alignment of the body (structure), facilitating movement and connection between parts (behavior), and offering a perspective of coherence (perception).
Whether our preference is to lead with the energy of the fabric maker, the measurer-planner, or the action-taker, we are participating in the process of weaving. Seen from this perspective we weave with the Fates instead of at their mercy. Empowerment comes when we are in alignment with our principles. We can choose to defer our fate to perceived authority or we can do the work to build resilience, act with integrity, and clarify our perception .
"Paying" Attention?
Where does attention come from? What do we mean when we use the phrase “pay attention”?
When I encounter questions about the meaning and use of words, I often find it instructive to look to their origin and development. The word attention derives from the Latin tendere, which means “to stretch”. From Old French to Middle English to attend came to mean “applying one’s mind or energies toward something”. At some point in the mid 16th century, the legal term tender was used as a way to “formally offer a plea or evidence, or money to discharge a debt”.
We tend gardens, wounds, children - stretching our hands and hearts and minds forth to those things we perceive as important and delicate and worthy of care. Yet, at some point, we started using the same word in a way that reflected the influences of capitalism, commerce, and debt. Changes in language reflect changes in thought. The world was changing in the mid 16th century as exploration in new lands coincided with the rise of mercantilism, which was the predecessor of the capitalism we know today.
As the world changes again we see the competition for resources shift from physical commodities (land, oil, metal) to the commodity of information. The types and amount of data that are streamed and collected in the information economy must surely exceed the material wealth that can be extracted from the earth. This recognition has given rise to an attention economy, powered by technology, and expanding ever more rapidly.
It is something so powerful that it hides in plain sight, so dangerous that authority wants to control it at any cost, and so valuable that it is given, for free, to every conscious being.
In the process of witnessing my own use of language, the inquiry arose “why do we use the phrase ‘paying attention’?” Attention is something we can bring, capture, give, and lose. It has immense value as it creates the frame in which and through which we perceive ourselves, each other, and the world around us. It represents the light of awareness that directs the most precious resource we have and the only thing that we can truly claim with sovereignty. It is something so powerful that it hides in plain sight, so dangerous that authority wants to control it at any cost, and so valuable that it is given, for free, to every conscious being.
The next time you decide to “pay” attention to someone or something, I invite you to consider whether the exchange of value in such a “transaction” is in alignment with how you want to use your attention. We do not get paid for the extraordinary amount of data we disclose to our devices in the form of our attention. There are ways to engage with technology more consciously, but it takes discipline and having tools can help. I have found the resources at The Center for Humane Technology to be useful in this practice.
It is an aspect of biological life to consume resources and information. How we focus our attention plays a profound role not just in how we perceive the world, but in how we co-create reality as it unfolds. Using language consciously and creatively will influence thought, thoughts influence perspective, and perspective influences behavior. Take care when consuming. Your information diet will affect your health no less than the foods you eat. May you tend well and be well tended. Thank you for your attention.