Our World is Marked by…

fragments. Last week, I wrote about our increasingly fragmented society and the resulting fragmentation in our own lives. In this day of social isolationism (and the increasing social distancing that’s coming in the Coronavirus Age), it can be so easy to present different versions of ourselves. Can’t we compartmentalize more easily than ever? Can’t we present the social justice Tweeter self in one forum while simultaneously purchasing oxfords made by sweatshop labor in Bangladesh? Can’t we be the spiritually actualized faithful churchman in certain contexts while chasing the almighty buck in another?

In a social milieu of compartmentalization, it’s easy to compartmentalize. It’s easy to fall to fragments.

So, last week I asked what holds you together, what keeps you from falling to fragments. And it should come as no surprise that the majority of you said you were prone to compartmentalization. So am I. After all, we’re all human. Still, most of you said your primary hedge against fragmentation was some version of spiritual devotion—prayer, the study of sacred texts, gathering with the assembly of some group of saints. But aside from the most obvious spiritual answers, most of you mentioned some sort of physical practice.

Donna wrote the physical practice…

of journaling holds her together. It provides her with time to slow down, to get out of her head and to organize the spiritual, emotional, and mental parts of her life. Though she didn’t say it just this way, I might guess her journal practice allows her to see which areas of her life are fragmented and out of alignment.

Nate wrote about gathering…

with a few friends each week. How does it help him hold the fragments together? In his words, “not meeting or seeing [friends] provides a bit of a dark corner that never gets questioned… and where I don’t get to encourage others.” In other words, his people hold him accountable to live an embodied, authentic life. He does the same for his people. Together, they fight fragmentation by being humans being together.

Kate wrote (wait for it)…

the daily practice of cleaning her barn helps hold her life together. Why? I’m not sure just yet, but I’ve sent her a followup email. Stay tuned for more.

“We Are Living In a Material…

World, and I am a Material Girl.” So, said Madonna in her 1980s smash-hit single. And though I disagree with her conclusions about what this means, the pop icon was onto something. We are material beings in a material world. And if we’re going to resist an every-fragmenting, ever-distanced society, we need authentic material practices sticky enough to hold us together. Meet with friends. Journal through your fragmentation. Clean out the barn in relative silence, reflecting on what it means to be human.

Like society, the mind is predisposed to fragmentation (can’t we justify anything?); it’s the body that holds the fragments together.

A Tool for Defragmenting

THE BOOK OF WAKING UP —a book on addiction, attachment, and the Divine Love—is available now! So, order a copy or ten at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookish (my favorite indie bookseller). Then, forward this post to a friend and ask them to read along.