Integral Life Practice

Integral Life Practice

The Book "The Life We are Given" by George Leonard and Michael Murphy suggested that if someone motivated to maximize their growth in all areas undertook a coherent set of practices tailored to their particular situation, the "cross-training" effect of mutually reinforcing and balanced practices would lead to greater overall progress than if one concentrated only on one's "gifts" or initial preferences alone.

Ken Wilber's "Boomeritis" further described the benefits of ITP, and led me to actually explore the concept. But Ken and the Integral Gang have gone so far as to boldly release the Integral Life Practice Self-Study Kit, which contains the seeds of all the practices needed to reorient one's life around sustainable developmental practices.

On the pages linked below, my own Integral Life Practice will take form.

First Observations (2/6/06):

It's clear that the dynamically inspiring nature of my connection with Deb is my own way of worshiping the Muse. Reclaiming time for my own practice is a key element. The most clear-cut practices in my life were my devotion to triathlons and my work with A Course in MIracles when it was new in my life. That will become the basis for my ILP in the Body and Spirit realms, supplemented by Tango in the Body realm and meditation in the Spirit realm.

Specifically, I'll start a running aerobic practice today (2/6/06) and bring ACIM up-to-date on my system. In terms of self-honoring goals, I'll finish the first draft of the Gustavo interview, and clean my office. Here's why the office needs cleaning:

My office on Monday February 6 2006, Southeast Elevation:

I plan to update these pictures once a week to monitor progress. Here's the quick tour: a shocked and disheveled self beholds the looming task of cleaning up. The to-do-list whiteboard lodges its plaintive demand at left. Vast swarms of tango CDs languish below left of the acoustic-electric classical guitar used for tango performances.

Southwest elevation: Primary workstation with secondary monitor for video work visible at right. The little altar containing Jesus and Krishna is dead center, flanked by Buddha and Shiva statuettes. My parents gaze benignly from the photo at mid-upper left, and various images of my sweet Deb float at odd locactions.

Northwest Elevation: The hardworking homebuilt PC's powering the main workstation chug and whirr in lower left. The "project table" groans under an accumulation of detritus while the recently rewired laptop sits open contemplating its next voyages. The last 13" tube TV/VCR (cable-empowered) in Boulder waits for either a DVD test or a channel-surf veg-out session. The server glowers in the background watched over by the venerable Martin acoustic-electric guitar in the gun case.

Northeast Elevation: The MIDI keyboard sits under the CD-burning station where I crank out our CDs of my "Radio Tango" interviews on KGNU for students and interested parties. A second server lies in pieces below, waiting for attention. The bass patiently waits hanging from the bookshelf for another session of original tango music creation, and we're back again around to the to-do-list whiteboard...

Well! That was fun - but now it's REALLY time to go running...