Influence Ecology - a Primer
The health of the fish is given by the water
Healthy water, healthy fish; dirty water, dead fish
Human beings do best when tending to their water
(and most only tend to themselves)
'Water' for human beings takes many forms
This series is about tending to those many forms of water
Tending to the 'water' rather than simply tending to you requires an awareness of forces that shape and impact the you that you are.
That you were born in a specific place, time, country, race, culture, religion has obvious implications. The additional forces, or 'water' that shape your fish is a long list. Below are a few I'll be discussing in this series.
- City/Town/Village scape
- Membership
- Architecture
- Dwelling
- Situation
- THE environment
- The human dialog
- Society
The point of these discussions will be this: when you are aware of something, you can now be responsible for it, shape it and tend to it. When you are not aware of it, you can't impact it (purposefully).
As an example that illustrates the potency of this; I'm in my home office typing on a Mac. My unscreened opened windows allow the cool Pacific breeze to share the scents of the earthy garden just outside and the tropical flowers that inhabit it. A not too distant church bell welcomes the hustle of cars and their journey down Hollywood Blvd.
That is my morning 'water' and all the ways my senses and ambitions are 'activated'. Accidental? Hardly. Lucky? Nope. A purposeful well-tended to experience that connects me with the city, the ocean, nature, my work and my community.
Why purposeful? To fulfill all my ambitions (and I have more than one) I have crafted an environment that perfectly nurtures it.
Your environment (water) and you are inseparable. Given this is the case, what water should you construct?
John Patterson
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