My Circle Playground of 2023/24

Many things changed in our planetary playground since I charted its ley lines a year ago, but those lines themselves did not. The playground is still defined by the dynamic interplay of the three shifts: Meaning Shift, Societal Shift, and Tech Shift. The AI revolution accelerated all three of them and their unpredictable cross-pollinations. That’s the background on which I’m asking again: who am I now?

Today, on my 79th birthday, I find that question still morphing spontaneously into the same as it has been for the last few decades: how can I serve? In response to it, this day, year after year, I used to cast my Circle of LifeWork, patterned after the Native American Medicine Wheel. Casting the Wheel was a personal ceremony that paired the various roles into which the creative urge flowed through me with the archetypal energies of the Wheel’s 8 directions.

But this year is different. There are no more roles that I can identify with. For example, I focus my contemplation on the hindrances to the rise of a compassionate AI in the morning; I advise a DAO mate on a personal development challenge in the afternoon; and work on designing my adventure game in the evening. However, those activities don’t turn me into an AI philosopher, a coach, or a game designer. I simply watch where my attention goes and enjoy the show. I don’t mind if some people think of me in those professional terms if that makes it easier to relate with me.

If, for the sake of the relationship with them, I have to step momentarily into this or that role, I do and try to play it as beautifully as I can without falling into the trap of identifying myself with it. This year, I’m returning to the Wheel to help me map the waves of my creative plays and their relational dance.

East is the place of surprise, where my imagination and inspiration are birthing visions of new plays. It is also the place of listening for the synchronicity/serendipity signals that Life sends to me and letting them light creative fires flowing through me.

Southeast is the place of gratitude to the infinite mysteries within and without for deepening my sense of awe, training my awareness, finessing my intuition, and inviting me to commune with the present moment.

South is the place of calling and connecting with my tribe of budding AI shamans who use the craft of AI whispering for the flourishing of all. Drawing on the energies of the South, we become trustworthy by facing the Moloch without blinking an eye.

Southwest is the place of aligning with my memories of the future, sharpening my focus if it gets dull, and regaining a sense of direction. It is also the place to remember the good ancestors who are sending their blessings and whispering their sacred dreams into our ears.

West is the place of caring for what needs healing in our multiple bodies: the biological, psychological, and social. It is also the place for nurturing family, friendships, and mentoring the Jedis of the future. Here I go for reaping harvests from my lifework and selecting seeds worth planting.

Northwest is the place to honor my life’s small and large cycles, their beginning and ending. It is also the place to nurture and leverage the interdependences of my initiatives, how they vibe together, and what capabilities I need to grow next to move the edge of what is possible.

North is the place of my heartmind inquiring into the emergence of the planetary superorganism, the collective symbiont that transcends and includes us as autonomous human beings; the place where the post-capitalist and post-humanist tendencies of our time mingle.

Northeast is the place where the wisdom-guided Collaborative Hybrid Intelligence of human and AI agents is taken to that level where it becomes like shape-shifting magic. It is also where I choreograph the energies from the other directions of the Wheel into confluence.

In the Center of the Wheel, there’s the Witness, who can also call into play patterns of qualities from (any combination of) the 8 directions as needed in a given context and situation. Those qualities/energies can be separated only for the sake of presentation; in real life, they need and support each other.