{"id":216,"date":"2008-08-26T16:58:47","date_gmt":"2008-08-26T16:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2008\/08\/integral-activism-the-i-the-you-and-i-and-the-we.html"},"modified":"2008-08-26T16:58:47","modified_gmt":"2008-08-26T16:58:47","slug":"integral-activism-the-i-the-you-and-i-and-the-we","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2008\/08\/integral-activism-the-i-the-you-and-i-and-the-we.html","title":{"rendered":"Integral Activism – the “I”, the “you and I”, and the “we”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let’s start of the post with some fun clips of the Day-long Arts Retreat<\/a> on August 23rd, 2008:
\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4_BB3R3Gv_M<\/a>
\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0Rp0egauGwk<\/a><\/p>\n

You can also read about it here in Emily Herzlin’s post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following all that fun, we met for the Integral Activism meeting on Sunday Aug. 24, 2008. It started with a new memo from Sen. Eric Schneiderman further exploring our integral activism work:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWikipedia defines politics as \u2018the process by which groups of people make decisions.\u2019 So mindful political engagement involves our active participation in the collective decision making process of a group. It requires us to shift our awareness so that, in addition to being an \u201cI\u201d, we experience ourselves as part of a \u201cwe.\u201d Passive membership in a group doesn\u2019t do it. Politics requires us to own our \u201cwe-ness\u201d, to exercise the muscles of our collective nature.<\/p>\n

By contrast, contemplative practices such as mindfulness meditation primarily focus our attention on the nature of the \u201cI\u201d.<\/p>\n

Accordingly, then, mindful political work opens the door to a deep understanding of our interdependence, and the permeability of the shell we usually imagine between what is \u201cinside\u201d of our individual selves and the other people \u201cout there.\u201d Mindful political work \u2013 integral activism \u2013 involves practicing an investigation of the \u201cI\u201d and the \u201cWe\u201d simultaneously. As we develop practices associated with Integral Activism, we should keep this simultaneity in mind…\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How do we explore and define the different levels we can approach our thoughts and actions? Are we aware of the differences between the \u201cI\u201d or the personal level, the \u201cyou and I\u201d or the interpersonal level, and the \u201cwe\u201d or the collective level of action? How do we keep all of these levels in mind when we practice integral activism?<\/p>\n

Schneiderman\u2019s memo goes on to say that when we engage in voluntary service or charity work, we are only engaging in an interpersonal interaction:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201c\u2026The reason our practice as integral activists focuses on political work \u2013 rather than charity or \u2018service\u2019 \u2013 now should be clear. Good works through which \u2018I\u2019 help someone else as an individual lack the collective spirit of engagement of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This last statement is a bit controversial. Let\u2019s make it a little more grounded through an example that came up during our discussion: Is volunteering in a soup kitchen an act of activism? By the definition that we have here, we would say that it is not \u2013 instead it is an act of serving one\u2019s community. It is not engaging in politics. Do you think that is true? If one is volunteering in a soup kitchen, is it the same as engaging in politics? Is it important to make a distinction between the interpersonal level of interaction that is for the benefit of another person vs. working on a collective level that is for the benefit of the \u201cwe\u201d? What does it mean to move from volunteering in a soup kitchen to working on a political level? Why is working on the interpersonal level more or less appealing than working on the political level? What does the practice of one bring to the practice of the other?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let’s start of the post with some fun clips of the Day-long Arts Retreat on August 23rd, 2008:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":339,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-media"],"yoast_head":"\nIntegral Activism - the "I", the "you and I", and the "we" - One City<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2008\/08\/integral-activism-the-i-the-you-and-i-and-the-we.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Integral Activism - the "I", the "you and I", and the "we" - One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Let’s start of the post with some fun clips of the Day-long Arts Retreat on August 23rd, 2008:\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2008\/08\/integral-activism-the-i-the-you-and-i-and-the-we.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-26T16:58:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"omphalina\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Integral Activism - 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