Living Integrally When it Counts

In last month's Integral Life newsletter I talked about what an amazing month August was for the integral world.  This month I'd like to reflect on the great turmoil and fear that are wracking the globe and the financial markets.  The public trust is broken, with most indications reflecting that trust in our political, economic and media leaders and institutions hovers near all-time lows.  Recent events have shaken the very foundations of our social and economic fabric by exposing money as one of our most prominent social constructions: "value" is nothing more than a social agreement and when money and credit markets stop flowing the "value" of the assets we own become frozen (or worse, meaningless).  It feels like there is no place to hide when the value of our national currencies, our real estate, our stocks and bonds, and even commodities begin to free fall.  I think this is a great opportunity to explore what it means to live integrally during challenging times.

As a member of Integral Life you are building a community that is simultaneously a shelter from the storm as well as a powerful ray of light and love that can burn away the darkness of an afraid and fragmented world.  Living integrally means many things, but at its core it means remembering in every moment the miraculous and beautiful truth of a life lived fully and freely.  You are infinite and timeless, brilliant and wise.  We have in every moment a profound opportunity to reaffirm the amazing gifts in front of us, and indeed bursting into existence in this moment, and the next ...

I'd also like to reaffirm our organization's values, in service to you and others with love and authenticity.  For our part, we make three commitments to every Integral Life member: 1) we honor the trust you place in us.  We know that the money you pay us is a sacred contract of trust and we take that very seriously. 2) We will seek to provide a community where we can all exhale during troubled times, where we are each reminded of our innate human birthright to live freely and fully no matter what is occurring in our lives. 3) And we will work very hard to provide and foster perspectives and practices that allow us each to deeply engage in our lives with passion and presence while also helping us to keep a long-term outlook. 

To this end, Integral Life continues to hire very talented people to help us add to our membership offering and we're very excited for what's coming in 2009, including new events, learning and community features.  Though investing in growth is not without short-term risk, we maintain a long-term view and hold steady to our primary mission of the growth and stewardship of the global integral ecosystem.

In the meantime, remember that when the value of our financial assets are declining (lower-right quadrant) and cultural fear is near an all-time high (lower-left quadrant) that it is easy to spend more time on our personal needs line of development at a "security needs" level than at a "self-actualizing needs" level (upper-left quadrant).  We regress during times of stress, and it is during these times that our personal Integral practices are both harder than normal and more important than ever.

We are so glad to be here with you as we collectively face the early years of the 21st century with a sense of just how profound our community is, how profound our lives are, and how with humility, love, freedom and fullness the future is brighter than ever.

With love,

Robb Smith
Chairman and CEO