Internity

     In my first post I propose that the greeting "How are you?" is both an acknowledgement of separate egos but also a deeper and unconscious connection, personal and collective, attempting to break through to consciousness.  In my second post I stay with the idea of deeper connections and adhere to the philosophy that no one is born who isn't called first.  My third post is focused on the destructive behavior of zombies ( the effects of oppression, addiction, trauma and shame on potential, relationships, experiences and perceptions).  My most recent effort touches on how waking-up to the miraculous connectedness of it all (biology) and the ego's separation of it all (ideology) both demand a comprehensive evaluation of how Freedom and Responsibility mirror each other throughout one's nature, nurture and Spiritual Health.  In this post my claim is that every single aspect of "How I Am: Being Human" originates from and returns to one's Internity - the discoveries, expressions, connections and created meanings of life.
     My sense of Internity is based on this idea: All behavior is purposeful and internally motivated.  I throw this idea out there all the time (which, of course, is purposeful) and the usual responses run the gamut from "I totally agree" to "Well... um, all behavior?" or, "No way!  Why in the world...?  How do you explain...?" and so on and so forth.  The idea, however, isn't claiming that all purposeful behavior is well thought-out, or useful, or effective, or safe, or kind, or healthy, or awake, or even a function of ego-consciousness.  The claim is simply that the feelings/values and beliefs/thinking patterns of behavior are informed by the content of one's emotional core and though not always conscious, it is always purposeful.  And although the "internally motivated" part of the idea implies conscious choice it's obvious that the consciousness of "How I Am: Being Human" is sometimes inspired, sometimes routine, sometimes completely unexamined and sometimes reduced to instinct.  No matter how the idea is thought about by others (which, of course, is also purposeful), my conviction remains firm.  The discoveries, expressions, connections and meaning of all potential, relationships, experiences and perceptions, in every moment - the eternal NOW - are responded to with, and simultaneously created by, the internally motivated and purposeful behavior of one's Internity.
     The biological and psychological birth of one's Internity is pure potential, a dream-like calling filled with undifferentiated images, instinctual energies and powerful emotions.  As I've said before, simply holding a baby creates an awareness - personal and collective - of potential, relationships, experiences and perceptions.  (Those who don't dare hold a baby are also exhibiting internally motivated purposeful behavior.)  And because the conscious separations of ego are still only a seed of potential the baby is in a full participation (participation mystique) with the collective unconscious of "Being Human" (i.e., the psychological vibe within and without the baby).  The psychological birth of one's Internity began while still in the womb as a symbiotic union with the energies and emotions of the mother.  Once born into this world those energies and emotions take on a whole new dimension with the addition of sensory images as one's Internity begins it's struggle toward ego-consciousness.  The potential at this point is composed of unfathomable yet purposeful projections and introjections ("It's not what the eye sees, but what catches the eye that matters").   In essence, one's biology, psychological birth (ego) and the experience of being alive are set on a fateful trajectory with these first relationships, experiences and perceptions.  As time marches onward the Internity of the baby will grow into a complex of discoveries, expressions, connections and meaning (schemas), all revealed and reflected via the callings and conditionings of internally motivated purposeful behavior.
     To close-out this post I present the (corny) diagram below (I'm no graphic artist) to give some more specific ideas as they relate to Internity.  As you can see the emotional core is enveloped by these energies: To Have,To Feel, To Act, To Love, To Speak and Be Heard, To See and To Know (Yes, the Chakras).  In the beginning, most every healthy baby's Internity is impelled by the purely emotional survival energies of To Have, To Feel and To Act.  From this point onward the formation of the baby's physiological, psychological and sociological energies and emotions - healthy and unhealthy - relies almost entirely on how those first collective, yet still unconscious relationships, (ideally the mother, the father and the rest of the family), respond to the demands To Have, To Feel and To Act.  And even though the discoveries, expressions, connections and (primitive) meanings of the baby are unconscious and in a symbiotic union with all of the collective relationships, the whole process is nevertheless impelled toward the necessary awakening and conscious separations of ego.  The ego, "How I Am," then continues with the internally motivated purposeful behaviors of "Being Human" - the emotional core of Internity.