pointillism and paradox

pointillism
Hawkens, in Blessed Unrest, recommends Faith, Madness and Spontaneous Human Combustion, by Gerald Cgoallahan. I snagged up the book for 2 reasons, 

1. the basis of the book, immunology seemed intriguing to a mindset of being yourself - ie: Gerald talks of your immune system’s job being to determine what is you and what is not you  
2. Gerald is a professor at CSU, 30 min away from me.

One idea of great interest after reading the book is Gerald's explanations of and references to pointillist art - the art made up of dots..and when you zoom out far enough.. the dots blend together and you see an image.

paradox

In John Hagel’s latest post - Resolving the Trust Paradox - he talks about his liking of a paradox. of looking at opposites, seeming contradictions. In an earlier post, John talks about the calm some get, even though, and perhaps especially when, they are on the edge.


Gerald’s pointillist art and Hagel’s paradoxes seem quite similar. They both afford an opportunity of calm. They both encourage a zooming out. They both have the potential to confirm, upon zooming out, something that matters. 

Pontillism, reminds me of all the people in ed on the edge, doing exciting things, trying to change up status quo ruts many have fallen into.
The paradox, the center of the edge thinking, reminds us to not stay in our silos or classrooms or discipline. It encourages and provides a calm even, when we are bold enough to continually zoom out for perspective.


Both afford us a new mindset.
We aren’t doing this alone. there are many others right alongside us. There just happens to be a wall in the way currently. I get this same feeling as google + opens up. It’s like some walls have been knocked down.. some rooms have become suites, some rooms have opened up to an entire hall.


We start noticing more, noticing that we aren’t doing this alone. Noticing what others are doing/thinking is no longer a threat, but an incredible opportunity. Something that once brought tension/jealousy/strife/competition, now brings us calm. We see the big picture, and it's us. We are all connected, we are one. And looking for opposites points of view, for radical collaborations, for parody, for pointillism, is vital to you being/becoming you.
the center, the edge, the center, the edge, out, in, out, in, what's me, what's not me, ...
perpetual beta, continuous feedback loops of doing/refelcting/doing again

You're being that is the alive you - is in the center of the edge, a rhizomatic space.
In mess you find calm, in calm you find/make you.



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