PROCESS

Illustration Credit: www.koliganti.com



 

There has been a shift away from conscious process in this instant-on society. Remotes, game controllers and swipe screens create an illusion of personal power over reality which is deceptive. A simple power failure destroys that illusion quickly.

 

The process of creating something from raw materials is rapidly being assigned to robots and computers. "Hand-crafted" used to mean something which resonated with any consumer. Those consumers were people who made things themselves. They cooked meals from whole ingredients every day. They worked in factories which produced goods from wood and steel. Their understanding of the physical labor which contributes to the simplest daily tools or food made them more open to appreciation and compassion for other laborers.

 

Abstract consumer items, like computer code and Web-based services, are not seen as "hand-crafted". There is no person associated with the process of producing these items, despite the human input involved. I speculate that this contributes to a results-oriented world, as opposed to a process-oriented world. A results-oriented world, driven by the expectations stimulated by smart phones and computers, is bound to be a world of impatience and shoddy results, motivated by a need for instant gratification.

 

Think of the effects of this mentality on diplomacy and government systems. Looking at dynamics in the Middle East and in the U.S. Congress convinces me that the disregard for process leads to disaster. Grabbing a gun is not a symptom of mindful process. Saying "no" whenever a political opponent suggests a solution to a common problem makes for no progress on that common problem.

 

Basing daily living in a developed sense of personal process is the basis of most conscious paths to enlightenment throughout history. The "how" and "when" of doing things matter. Tapping an app on a screen can contribute to a larger personal process. However, if your entire personal process is tapping screens, your life will be hollow, especially when the lights go out.