OK, so I’ve long been interested in the quantum nature of experience. There is something in me that has always been drawn in. There is something in me that feels from a deeper, intuitive place, “ah, yes, here is a map that rings true with my sense of what is happening, what is imaginable, and what is possible.” I don’t speak as a trained quantum science guy. But I do speak as a trained social science person — degrees in psychology and organizational behavior. Funny to think how these formal parts of my life have taken shape around the deeper, intuitive knowing.
Thinking over the last 25 years or so, I find it interesting to notice the experiences and resources that have captured my attention. Captured. Noticeably so. There have been people. My uncle, Vern Woolf, a quantum social scientist, who first introduced me to such notions. My grandmother, Lena Ross, who practiced social transformation and wrote poetry, and, who opened my curiosity as much as anyone just because of how she lived. My friend and colleague, Meg Wheatley, who continues to live beyond frontiers of the known. There have been numerous books that seemed like isolated reads in the moment, yet continue to integrate in me and change my life. Vern’s Holodynamics. My grandma’s So Roses Can Grow. Meg’s Leadership and the New Science, and Turning to One Another. Timothy Ferris’ The Minds Sky. Riane Eisler’s The Chalice and the Blade (which my Grandmother Lena introduced me to). Fritjof Capra and David Steindle-Rast’s Belonging to the Universe. Dean Radin’s Entangled Minds. Fantastic poetry by David Whyte and Mary Oliver. So many more. These are just a few that have stayed with me that I think of this morning.
In the spirit of just noticing and naming, coming back to the fire to share journey so to speak, I’m reading from a book by Carl Johan Calleman, The Purposeful Universe. The chapter from this morning gives attention to quantum entanglements: “Quantum entanglement is a quantum mechanical phenomenon in which the quantum states of two or more objects are linked together so that one object can no longer be adequately described without full mention of its counterpart — even though the individual objects may be spatially separated. This interconnection leads to correlations between observable physical properties of remote systems.”
As a consultant, a social scientist, an intuitive practitioner, a human being — there is something in this that grabs my attention now, just as it did in my early introductions to quantum worlds. “Ah, a map that can embrace more of the whole, more of the mystery, and more of what has felt like isolated realms of spiritualism, mysticism, etc.” This level of linking, of entanglement, inspires my sense of what is possible as human beings living in this time. Yes, working in organizations — is it possible for us to link so closely around shared intention and purpose that our actions could become so entangled, or more informed and coordinated through entanglement? And yes, organizing as communities — in the spirit of massive connection that is now possible, could it be that deeply shared and co-created purpose (often now in the form of movements) enables us, in our entanglement, to move with the dexterity more akin to a school of fish? And yes, in relationships, in love. Whether familial in the way that parents entangle with their children (I have known this as a child, and as a parent), or in the love and intimacy of another, soul twins or soul kin — even though spatially separated, could it be that there is an invisible connectedness, that renders us living integrated and available to each other as a whole? It is what traditionally has been spoken only by poets. How lovely to just let that wash over us.
I hope, believe, and experience enough of each of these, that further helps me to see this map. To further make sense of what is happening, what is imaginable, and what is possible.
Quantum entanglement — yup.
Grateful. And inspired by possibility that it invites.
