From the Middle 

I recently wrote an article on collective intelligence that I will share here. I welcome comments.

Apprenticeship – the “Collective We”

I am an explorer.  I want to understand how we each as individuals engage in that rare space where the “Collective We” magically knows.  I and others must learn how to show up, how to be present to open this door.  What I write here is birthed from my direct experience in exploring with others this evolutionary edge.

I notice some practices that nurture this fertile ground for collective knowing.  A question arises and holds deep meaning to bring focus.  I must come with an openness to inquiry and to the emergent.  I must sense into the moment, letting go of everything else.  And for me the most profound is silence.  With the sound of the bell, the mind and body still.  I (and we) drop out of the rational mind into resonance with the collective field.

I experience the circle conversation as slow and thoughtful as each takes the talking piece, not knowing exactly what will be said.  Voice is given to what is present in the moment, not rehearsed or drawn from books or opinion.  I sense and listen with my whole being, yearning to know what is present between us now.  I and we strive to be fully present, but not as the small self.  We are the voices, the unique sensing organs of consciousness itself.

We are apprentices.  We come together to learn to know collectively.  Each time we learn more into the how.  As we evolve, individually and collectively, the field expands.  The next time we gather it is easier to deepen the groove and to move the edge a little more.  We will do this over and over again seeking to magically slip through that mysterious door. 

Once we have tasted the “Collective We” knowing, aliveness and stillness at the same time; we are nearly intoxicated with seeking to experience this magic again.  And yet, I observe myself and others often pulling back.  I sense an intense vibrational shift when an unknown voice speaks through me.  The energy is hard to hold.  Some can hold this rare space longer than others.  They are our mentors, the pioneers who help us to glimpse the possible.

I have experienced the burst, the life force exploding from the deepest core of the Earth, as a voice brings ideas not yet known.  Then in the very next moment someone brings forward a personal story.  The energy deflates; the frequency drops.  On many occasions I have experienced this energetic rise and fall.  I see the holding of this higher interlude and frequency as one of the great challenges of our collective apprenticeship.  We think we have to say something and maybe there are no words.  The silence says it all.