This morning the subject of organization was on my mind while looking at the astrology of the day. A Virgo moon, ruled by a retrograde Mercury in Venus’ sign. The Sun/Moon trine symbolizing a harmonious master/emissary type relationship. I started getting the picture in my head of an aesthetically meaningful organizational process, guided by a benevolent authority figure or due to the generosity of someone with more power or resources.
Then I tried to make a few analogues:
* Rather than trying to control the flow of events within a busy day, the “parent,” “spouse,” or “person in control,” allows for events to shape themselves. They are pleasantly surprised by the way in which things naturally organize themselves into an “even better than anticipated” whole.
* Rather than trying to control a group of people, a leader demonstrates tolerance. The group is suddenly less resistant to being organized, less chaotic, and an organizational structure appears organically.
Then I realized that in both of my analogues was the idea of tolerance, or the notion that organizational diversity, innovation, and creativity (the making of a better than expected whole), stem from tolerance. In fact, the etymology of the word “tolerance,” includes the idea of “bearing something up even after going through the needed sequence.”
What does tolerance and organizational effectiveness have in common? Put simply, the success or effectiveness of any creative or spiritual endeavor is greater than the sum of its parts. There is an X factor, you might say, that goes beyond the simple cause and effect of some action or series of actions that we hope will bring us success. Anyone who has tried to manually start a lawn mower, for example, knows that the cord and the pulling of the cord are only one part of the start up sequence. Tolerance is also a hermetic key: to endure beyond the needed sequence of events. At some point when you’re trying over and over again to start a lawn mower someone might say, “maybe it’s broken,” and you say, “No no. Just give it a minute.” You might even say, “You can’t stand here watching or it won’t work.” You might get a strange look in response. You might then take a deep breath, slowly grab the cord one more time, say one of those invisible command prayers in your head, and then pull cord and hear the mower finally start up.
If you believe in conscious co-creation, then tolerance is one of your paradoxical best friends. If you’re trying to lead something, or if you’re trying to organize something for best practice or effectiveness, then think of tolerance as a necessary ingredient. How can you learn the secret command prayers of life without the cord/mower actions consistently NOT working in the way that you think they should? How can you learn to command respect or success in anything you do without the ability to “bear beyond the necessary sequence?”
Prayer: Teach us the magic of tolerance…the art of bearing beyond the necessary sequence.
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