An Excerpt from our Living in Balance book: The Law of Progressive Simplification From his analysis of the rise and fall of twenty civilizations, the great historian Arnold Toynbee offers us insights into our search for a balanced lifestyle, and a larger perspective on the current shifts in values and ways of life. Summarizing the principles of civilization growth, Toynbee formulated the Law of Progressive Simplification, which provides some clues to the shift needed toward greater balance in our civilization as a whole. The law reminds us that the growth and vitality of a civilization is not a function of power over land or power over people, and it is most certainly not related to how much we sell or how many resources we buy, sell, or consume. Rather,the measure of a civilizations growth is in its ability to transfer increasing amounts of energy and attention from the material side of life to the psychological, cultural, aesthetic, and spiritual side of life. This startling and profound idea has much to teach us about finding life-work balance that is truly satisfying and meaningful. What it means is that the more mature a civilization is, the more people will invest their time, energy, and attention in activities and relationships that offer not merely material goods and gratification, but the satisfaction gained by a high quality of relationships, authentic and meaningful communication, the sharing of valuable information, and by the sublime satisfaction of authentically inspiring spiritual experience. If we take this principle to heart, it is clear that our civilization is still early in its evolution. Hopefully the strain we feel, and the multiple signs of burnout, distress, and imbalance we witness, will be viewed in retrospect as growing pains that are helping us to individually and collectively wake up, and to shift our priorities and commitment toward living life in a way that is truly in balance. You can call yourself a cultural pioneer to the degree that you take this wisdom to heart, and begin to increase your ability to transfer your own energy and attention from preoccupation with the things of your life, toward the more sublime fulfillment offered by developing quality relationships, and by nurturing the creative, aesthetic, compassionate, and spiritual dimensions of your life. Perhaps this could be said to truly be your real work!
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 11:31:39 +0000
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