Seven is considered to be a “lucky” number in many cultures, whereas other numbers may have  mystical, magical, esoteric, occult  or taboo meanings…. It has been said that “the gods speak with numbers while men speak with letters.” Each of the single digit numbers, including the “place holder” zero, has, so to speak, its own spirit. Unlike language and words, numbers are universal across all cultures and ages. The sound and symbols used to represent “seven” may be different throughout the world, but the numerical concept of “7” is “7” everywhere.

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]]> http://realtalktherapy.com/lucky-seven/feed/ 0 http://realtalktherapy.com/the-sensorium/ http://realtalktherapy.com/the-sensorium/#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:03:08 +0000 Ken Fields http://realtalktherapy.com/?p=650

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You may have been taught about the five senses, at least to the degree that you recognize their are five senses. You may not yet be as cognizant about the other two senses, one of which is the most basic, and the other the most advanced. The most basic sense is that of motion. The most advanced sense is that of sequence.

Sequence is the awareness of procession…that one thing leads to another to another to another….it’s a sense of possible and probable outcomes  A sense of consequences, both positive and/or negative — and 256 shades of gray.

Motion is referred to as the “kinaesthetic” sense. It is movement, subtle movement, gross movement, movement of any kind. It’s prevalaent, ubiquitious, ever present, on many levels…You are aware of motion, of movement….movement of your legs, arms, eyes and tongue; movement of your toes and your beliefs…..change, adjustments….the world revolving, and evolving….

The collection of our 7 Senses, operating organically as a whole system, is referred to as “the sensorium.” Our sense of who we are as a person, as a neighbor, as a friend, as a citizen,  as a spouse, child, parent…..is constructed with the sensorium.

Aesthetics, as in “kinaesthetics,” is about beauty….;and kin…well, kin, as in “the next of kin,”  is about relationship ….and relationships are not static, they move….in a sequence of events.

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Motivations are energies that animate the psyche, which animates the bio, the body. Psyche motivations also animate the society at large, the socio being  made up of individual persons, each of whom is both bio and psyche.  And, the collection of “companions” that make up a society(or neighborhood),  the group, the mob…..has a mind of its own.

Fundamental motivations are word labeled “pleasure” … and “pain” and “reward” / “punishment.” But, what those words mean are not absolute fixed realities. As paradosical as it may sound, one person’s pain may be another’s pleasure, while for some punishment is a reward. The psyche logic can be quite silly at times.

Higher motivations have to do with Outcomes. End results. The path to an end result may indeed contain pain the pleasure being willingly delayed.

Developmental outcomes are the results of need satisfaction at any given stage. To the degree we have met our needs, we are healthy, well balanced, feel good….relatively happy, much of the time. The malaise millions feel, even if periodically, can be related to the lack of need satisfaction.  Developmental needs, and the outcomes from their satisfaction, or obstruction,  can be categorized into generally positive and negative. The end result of our developmental tasks can be broadly stroked with single word labels.

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The complexities of behaviors contained within the paths required to accomplish the tasks that meet the needs are represented with one-word labels, for each stage of development. Each word, at each stage,  is a symbol denoting…. motivations…

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Few people know this place…..the west end of Big Beach in Makena, Maui. A trail over the cliffs leads to Little Beach, the clothing optional cove with waters equally if not more appealing than those in this image.

The tan wet sand like a million mini gemstones enlivens the bare feet. The warm azure mineral water welcomes sea bathers and clouds filter sunlight making soft shadows while the wind is gentle and the waves asleep.

Big Beach can be a wildly agitated heavy pounding display of nature.  Huge waves rolling into a crashing explosion of salty whitewater rushing up the sand bank in a frothy frenzy and then, spent, roll back into the source.

Little Beach hides away behind the lava rock away from parking lots. Old molten now frozen fire, sharp cutting stone cold and unforgiving opens a rugged stairway up above the big beach and over down into paradise.

Light, earth, air and, of course, the holy water of the whole world. In a corner of the globe shaped by natural forces and brain chemistry the elements come together and present to all senses the natural world.

You’ve heard it said, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Beauty is subjective.  Beauty is discovered within ourselves, and then projected outward.

And, if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then so is ugly. Ugly is the antithesis, the opposite, of beauty.  Ugly and beauty are conjoined like two sides of one coin just as are all opposites, such as hot and cold, up and down, in and out.  One gives contrast and definition to the other. And ugly too, like beauty, is subjective, and  projected outward.

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it within us or we find it not.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

This collection of needs,  chronologically unfolding and age-based, is referred to as “the heirarchy of needs.”

Certainly, the need for sustenance is prevalent throughout the entire range of needs, as is the need for safety, but when consistently  satisfied, other needs arise.  Also, sustenance and safety are not limited to purely physical concerns; there are needs for psyche sustenance and psyche  safety, as well as socio sustenance  and socio safety.

Although this collection of 7 Needs is considered heirarchical, it is also interwoven. Even the lower level needs such as control and esteem are influenced by the higher level needs, such as the need for knowledge and beauty.

When higher needs are not satisfied, there is  psyche-logical malaise in much the same way physical deterioration is the result of neglect. Malaise is like a slow psyche-logical starvation.

It’s helpful to recognize our higher level psyche-socio developmental needs. It can add to one’s sense of direction,  meaning and purpose.

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Also in a previous post it was suggested that time is both cyclical and linear, more accurately a spiral….and that each year though we may be at the very same calendar date, in the very same season, and maybe even at the very same place,  there have been changes…biological changes, psyche and socio logical changes….and they each influence each other, making for “more age”…and year older.

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In family systems therapy, the sphere of influence most addressed is generally the nuclear family, although it could easily expand to extended family members, i.e., grandparents, aunts, uncles…. But, it does not really stop there. Permeating the home environment is the neighborhood, which itself is contained within the community. Family systems therapy often includes these extended spheres as many resources needed to bring about positive changes are contained within the neighborhood and community.

Spheres of influence extend even beyond the community. The city, state, nation and even the global sphere all have their influence on the community, neighborhood, and the home. A single person, at any age, exists within a complex multidimensional field of influences not all of which are conscious. A child of 7 years is significantly influenced by, and at least partially conscious of, the home and neighborhood, but not at all aware of the influence the state, or nation, has upon his/her growing consciousness, even though it is very present and active. As an adult of 56 years, there is much more awareness of the influence of city, state and nation, and even a consciousness of how the global sphere impacts his/her self, as well as how that global sphere influences the nation, state and city. And, at 56, the earlier spheres of home, neighborhood and community, although subconscious, continue to exert a significant influence.

If we refer to the traditional stages of psychosocial development, popularized by Eric Erikson, and couple those stages to these spheres of influence, it presents an interesting view of how our developing consciousness can parallel these spheres. In the chart below, the developmental stages are linked to the ever-larger spheres of influence.

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Of course, even as an infant, we are influenced by the higher spheres; but, we are not conscious of that. As we mature, we become more conscious of, and involved in, the larger more encompassing spheres of influence. Ideally, we mature from being a citizen of the neighborhood, to a citizen of the global community – a citizen of the world.