Feed the Feminine First
The Dynamic Equilibrium Between Structure and Capacity
As we explore what it means to embody the concept of synarchy in the Design Science Studio, we have been exploring a conversation about the dynamic equilibrium between structure and capacity, a tensegrity in living organisms and within groups and communities of social animals. A group of us gathered for an informal conversation: Brooke Daily, Veronica Anderson, Mark Smith, and myself.
During a conversation with Brooke, Veronica, Mark, and myself, on May 25, 2023, we were having some deeply needed conversations about how challenging this work is.
Stephen: It’s interesting listening to this and and feeling like in our guiding principles for the Design Science Synarchy, there are a lot of things that are coming up here that are actually, “Well, this is success!” What we’re doing here, this is deep listening. This is radical participation. You created a sense of health and safety here. And it’s really hard. We’re trying to cultivate culture. That’s, really challenging. And it starts with this trust and integrity, knowing that where we need to get to is capacity nurturing, so I think we’re doing that.
Later, Veronica offered this insight:
Veronica: There’s the need to delegate. And there is this idea or assumption that system and structure must come first. But it sounds like there’s a conflict with capacity. So what we’re holding is this duality between the structures being created and capacity. My mind automatically goes to the duality of the line and the circle, or the masculine and the feminine, or the positive and negative — however you want to hold it. The masculine is structure, the system, the line, this linear, important — really important — polarity. Capacity is blood and bones physicality. It’s the body and it’s not transcendent. It’s imminent. It’s here and now. There are non-negotiables. And that’s the feminine. And so I feel like the work that we’re all here to do — at this time of building a world that works for all — is to reclaim and put the feminine first, because that’s the opposite of what we’ve been doing. We’ve been putting the feminine last for 7,000 years maybe. It feels edgy and risky and uncomfortable because it’s new. It’s not what we’re used to. Our minds find new to be threatening. So I would expect that this suggestion wouldn’t be well-received by the whole group, but I’m still going to offer it, because it feels true and right and good and in integrity for me: We put the feminine first. And we say, “Look, we want to do all these things and we really want them to be super clear and beautiful and well structured and synthesized and poetic and absolute genius and done, forever. We never have to go back to them. But the reality is we don’t have the capacity right now to be that vision.” And holding that truth, can we summon the troops? Can we call people in and say, “This has to be good enough, because we don’t have the capacity right now to make it the perfect structure”?
We ended the conversation with this:
Stephen: Just to affirm that. In my understanding of how UX design works, it’s not about quantitative data. It’s the qualitative data that we’re looking for. And so you’re not looking for a huge sample. The feedback in this room is enough to actually really get a sense of, “Oh, this is what’s going on and we can kind of extrapolate from here. If it’s happening here, it’s probably happening throughout. So then you don’t have to stress too much about doing the quantitative thing, “That’s how we scientifically and industrially do this.” You can also know, “Yeah, we’re doing it.” We’re doing it right here. And this is what it feels like is getting into resonance with each other and being vulnerable and being trusting and this is what we want to grow.
Veronica: And that is the perfect example of feeding the feminine first: qualitative, not quantitative. Thank you so much, Stephen.
Stephen: Well, I’ve had a good teacher.
(Veronica Anderson is my ensoulment coach, by the way.)
World Weavers
June 3, 2023
A bi-weekly conversation in Zoom, every second Saturday at 8am Pacific Time, inspired by the world building session with Trimtab Space Camp Mesosphere visionary Tony Patrick in 2020. In our conversations, we mused that we were a World Weavers Web, weaving synergetically as a synarchy, rather than in the dominant mode of dominating over nature as architects and builders, and collectively agreed to change the name of the group to World Weavers.
Feed the Feminine First
An experience led by Veronica Anderson
Veronica Anderson is the voice behind Regenerist, a publication and community inspiring you to live regeneratively, think differently about sustainability, and step into greatness as a leader of the new paradigm. She graduated from the Tyler School of Art with a Bachelors of Architecture in 2013 and from Jefferson University with a Masters in Geodesign in 2015. Veronica also spoke on the floor of the United Nations in 2017 about readily available GIS technologies to design truly sustainable nations, and experienced the profound inertia and resistance which exists within dominating systems of power. She has since devoted herself to creating a holistic practice of regenerative community development informed by extensive training in the mystical arts which addresses the evolutionary shift in consciousness necessary to transform modern society.
In 2018, seeking true solutions to the urgent climate crisis and ecocide she felt deep in her bones, Veronica founded Studio Sanadora to transform the architecture profession through female voices, sacred designs, and land listening technologies. At the same time, she became aware of the re-villaging movement and began to explore the ways trauma healing and spirituality can support intentional communities in their formation. This was also a moment of profound spiritual awakening as she answered the call to deeper inner alchemy and began formal priestess training in the 13 Moon Mystery School.
“The built environment is an interface between humans and nature, I see architecture as a healing art because it has the power to transform the way we think and shift our consciousness to one of connection with nature versus dominance over it. The cities, towns, and spaces in which we live have the power to bring us together, or separate us, heal us, or make us sick. Nothing about how we design the built environment has really changed in the last century, only recently do we have the technology to be able to manage the complexity of truly sustainable projects which are deeply informed by the human and natural context around them. Architecture is the single most powerful weapon we have to catalyze the shift in consciousness we need as a species in order to shift away from causing harm and toward peace. When we harm the Earth, we harm each other, and ourselves. We are not separate from the Earth, therefore, if we want to ‘save’ the planet, we have to start by saving ourselves.”
— Veronica Anderson
Realizing the world around us is simply a projection of the world within us, Veronica created a process for cultivating regenerative inner architecture. The Ensoulment Process empowers changemakers to be architects of peace, and to participate in the radical paradigm shift of our times through systems change, both within and without. The great shift takes place as we collectively move away from extractive, transactional practices of exploitation and domination, not just in the way we interact with land, but in the way we relate to the territory of our very own being.
A Bi-Weekly Zoom Meeting
Join us in our World Weavers conversations as we explore the inward journey into who we are as human beings and sensing, feeling, thinking, and acting carefully as we consider the world that we are weaving together for the generations to come.
We are experimenting with Substack as an alternative to the Google Group as a way to stay connected in between World Weavers meetings. Add your email to the mailing list for the World Weavers by subscribing to Trimtab.
Subscribe to Trimtab for free to access the Zoom link and to join us for upcoming gatherings of the World Weavers.
