a monthly newsletter of what's happening with SeattleIntegral

Vol. 2

• Welcome
• Introducing the Core group
• New SI Website
• Call for submissions

This is the premier edition of a concept that has been in the planning stages for some months by Core Group members. We'll explain how that came about a little further down in the next article.

The purpose of this newsletter is to help create a more unified community by keeping our members informed, aware of what others are doing, and increasing consciousness around the activities of the larger group. Most of us belong to one, maybe two, subgroups. We've grown to the point where no one member could possibly join every group (even though Jake is trying!) 

We started out as a Ken Wilber Meetup in 2002, grew to two groups in early 2004, and now have six subgroups, each with a different purpose, but with a shared noble goal of learning how to embody the Integral Approach into our daily lives. But as we've grown into these separate groups, we've also grown somewhat apart, with the larger body of SeattleIntegral loosely drawing a circle around the subgroups, and holding a space for the unity of these groups.

Hopefully, this newsletter will be a small step in creating a larger sense of community for our existing members, and will encourage others to join us in our goals of transforming ourselves, our communities, and our world.

Introducing the Core Group: What it is, what it does, and why

Many of you have asked about the Core group and what it is. Here is a formal introduction.

From SeattleIntegral's inception a few years ago, SI has largely been facilitated by one person, Gary, who has often half-joked that he tried to run the group as a "benevolent dictator." 

Along the way, he's had excellent input and advice from members like Jake, Elle, Tom, and others, on the best course of action. However, as the group continued to grow, it became apparent that not only was the group getting too big for one person to administer, but that for SI to truly grow into the next phase of its evolution, the leadership would have to change along with it. Gary was the prime mover of this evolutionary drive and pushed long and hard for others to step up to the leadership challenges.

It took a long time, almost 2 years, for those leaders to start emerging.

Many of you will remember an invitation last year inviting anyone who was interested in participating in a SeattleIntegral "leadership group." The invitation was public, and nine people stepped up to meet the challenge. Several others, including the leaders or representatives from every subgroup, were offered personal invitations, and some them declined to participate.

From its beginning the  Core Group has attempted to operate from a second tier perspective: a daunting task, since even Ken admits that I-I is not yet a second tier organization. However, we weren't trying to create a second tier organization, we were trying to create a second tier leadership group that would help usher in the next evolutionary phase of an integral salon.

This lofty goal of this task has been greatly enhanced by the participation of several of its members in the Pacific Integral program, "Generating Transformative Change in Human Systems." It is a credit to that program, and its teachers, that what we've learned there is helping us in our continuing efforts to develop ourselves as second tier leaders. Not that we are a second tier leadership group, yet, but we have a set of tools and greater awareness to guide us in that direction.

The thing about groups operating at second tier is that the highest level available to the group, the Kosmic Groove, so to speak, is where the individual holonic horizons intersect (for more on this, click on the link>).

Using learned techniques like the "U" process from Presence, dialogical processes like Bohmian and Insight Dialogue, collective intelligence and shared morphogenetic fields, and a Holocratic/Sociocratic governing system along with the collective state/structures of the individual members, we're hoping to develop a leadership model from which other  salons and groups may benefit in the future. Since it's never really been done before, we're also learning as we go.

Currently, the Core group has just drafted a set of by-laws to support our decision making process as a group. One of the provisions is a process by which any member may submit proposals for consideration for the advancement of SeattleIntegral and its members.  These by-laws apply only to the Core group, and not the larger community, and it is our hope that they will help guide us in our efforts in leading SeattleIntegral into the future.

It is also important that the larger group realize that the Core group does not intend to interfere in any way in the operation of the subgroups. That is for you, as members of these subgroups, to decide as to how you want your groups to run. The Core group is primarily concerned with where we go from here, to bring you the best events possible, and how to develop a more meaningful community. The first event the Core Group is producing will be an all day Shadow Workshop which will feature a 60-90 minute teleconference call with Ken Wilber on Sunday, September 24th.

What does this mean to the general membership of SeattleIntegral? Well, for one thing it means the leadership is less likely to burn out and go away. It also means one person is no longer making decisions for everyone else. But even more important than that, it means that we have the collective wisdom of each other guiding us.

The Core Group members and their respective tasks are:

Do these tasks mean we are experts in these fields? No...we volunteer our time and our efforts because we care about Integral and the processes that will help us develop more fully as a community.

If you have any questions about the Core group, please direct them to the SeattleIntegral list.

SeattleIntegral's New Website!

We finally have our own website (as if you've missed the discussion)! You will no longer have to tell people to Google SeattleIntegral or direct people to the SeattleIntegral Yahoo! list website (who the hell could remember that URL, anyway? Now you can just tell them "SeattleIntegral.com."

"The mission of SeattleIntegral is to work with integral models by turning Integral Theory into Integral Action. From intention and knowledge, we are committed to experiencing and espousing inner growth and outer community. In our endeavors to transcend separateness and evolve beyond our own views to a state of non-duality, we strive to provide support for personal, communal, and global awareness, manifesting a more integral consciousness."

Newsletter Format

For now, this will be the format of the Newsletter. The first group columns will hopefully begin appearing in the October  newsletter. Each month an announcement will be sent to the group through the Yahoo! list and a link will be provided to take people to the current newsletter. If anyone knows how to send html newsletters in emails without a subscription service, please let Gary know.

Newsletter Submissions

Something going on with an integral slant that you think others would like to know about, but the list seems either inappropriate or inadequate? Got an announcement that deserves a better presentation? Please submit your article to the newsletter. Articles related to integral matters may be submitted to the editorial board (Gary, Jake, Venita, and Blaine), who reserve the right to edit with the author's approval. Articles should be limited to 1,000 words. Deadline for any month is three weeks prior to the first of the month.

Please limit subgroup columns to 500 words or less. Submittals for upcoming issues must be received by the 12th of the month.

Links

SeattleIntegral

Calendar

Pacific Integral

Integral Leadership