Overview of Inner Transition

[Alex Duffy]

https://www.transitionnetwork.org/resources/overview-inner-transition

"In this chapter of the book "Vital Signs", an anthology of Ecopsychology writing, Hilary Prentice gives an overview of the territory of what started in Totnes as the "Heart and Soul" group, now known as Inner Transition" Sophy Banks

You can download this really interesting article from the link above.

[Alex Duffy]

Thanks Andy, as I said in my first comment I didn't want to get into a debate or discussion about this document at this time. Glad you found it interesting in some respects, there are many aspects to 'inner transition' and I'm not endorsing or promoting anything at all at this time. 

[Andy Wilson]

Hi Alex

Well you did ask!

I really hope you do write something. 

I was curious what was this thing that called itself 'ecopsychology' - something the author of the piece described herself as being 'passionate' about for 'nearly twenty years'.

Is it not fair to say the psychology of communication is also an important aspect of any transformative process -  within not only the individual  but also within groups of individuals? I believe it is. This is why advertising/propaganda is so successful (within its own terms of reference). It gets into people's heads.

Part of that psychology includes accessibility (of the medium and form of communication used convey the message to the recipients). The propagandists understand this very well.

However, similar  psychology can be deployed to communicate ideas and concepts, so that they might be understood more clearly

The propagandists also understand the power of identification (individual identity, group identity, brand/product identify).  Again, there are lessons to be learned.

If you'd asked did I find the article interesting, you might have got a different answer! The counselling aspect of the  processes described in Hilary's article is actually of great interest. But the language used, with its frequent references to Native American  or other early cultures, didn't connect. The anthropological and archaeological evidence of species' extinction in the North America continent suggests  the earliest people who came over from Asia c14000BP, over the course of several thousand years, wiped out most of the big mammals. So I don't know  that  the  humans of that time and place, or their descendants, were much more tuned in with their surroundings than people today. Time and time again they destroyed their resource base (and moved on).  Its just their capacity for damage and destruction was rather more limited (or took longer), and they had the option of moving  to fresh pastures. Similar species' destruction can be identified with most if not all known early human cultures.

I'd be interested to hear your views on that, and whether you think it is unfair for people of our era to assess early human cultures according to that yardstick.

[Alex Duffy]

Thanks Andy for your opinions and sharing your detestation's, your analysis and suggested reading. If I come upon some more articles on the sibject I will certaily post them, I may even get round to writing my own.

[Andy Wilson]

Hi Alex,

I didn't think the article was very reader-friendly or accessible, which is one of the first tenet's of good communication. Its not a document that delivers a clear message on the first reading.

So as an advocate of the benefits of 'inner transition', it partly missed the point! When I critically review any early drafts of my own writing, the first thing I try and get a feel for its readability and how well the message is conveyed. That goes further than choice of words, structure of sentences, arrangement of paragraphs and headings, but also extends to easiness on the  eye.

Not that I necessary get it where I'd like it, and maybe nowhere near where the eventual reader would like it (and I'm sure people will quickly point out there is plenty of room for improvement!) but its always a major consideration.

Perhaps this is a personal thing but I detest the double spacing of lines in text. It  does strange things to my head. And possibly, it can be accused of being a bit pretentious: double spacing being a sort of status symbol that academics use to distinguish themselves from the ordinary folk, who don't write like that.

So did I enjoy it, no. Was I meant to, well probably not. I don't imagine that was a priority. Is it something about which I would engage in debate (once I overcome my self-declared prejudices against academics!), sure, that's why I posted here.

I think the constraints imposed by personal viewpoints of the world, which is one of the themes of Hilary's article, are examined with greater clarity, certainly more concisely, in Fleeing Vesuvius and also in The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy.  I'd also recommend  a short poem by the Dalai Lama, called the 'Paradox of Our Age'.

[Alex Duffy]

Hi Andy

Thanks for your comment, generally when I want to create debate or discussion I'll post it in the forum section, but when its just a 'For Your Information' type post, I post it in the blog section, I often wondered why people get that mixed up?

I came upon this the other day and from my experience not many people know what inner transition is all about, so I thought it would be good for general information.

Of course I agree with your point and I don't separate inner and outer, as I see it all in a holistic way, our beliefs for instance, are inner and yet they do affect our outer world in very profound ways. 

Did you enjoy Hilary's article?

[Andy Wilson]

Alex,

I think if you provided a short summary of Hilary's document you might  stimulate a bit of a debate.

I'd argue that most of what you have termed 'inner transition'  can only occur in tandem with events in the external world. For example, human needs for food, water, shelter, companionship and security still have to be met. But even when these needs are not life-challenging issues (as may currently the case for many people in the so-called 'developed' nations) I think there is a very valid argument that the fast pace, endless trivial distractions and various peer pressures of the modern world are considerable barriers to personal development.