no.2 – Fragments as a balance between Individual and Whole

Fala*, my friend! → Welcome to the 2nd edition of Fis Fragments!

Let’s start with a fundamental principle: Nothing exists in isolation.

In other words, everything is connected.

Yes, this quote is about individuals. But it also applies to ideas, and concepts.

Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else.

Therefore, every: idea, note, project, creative output, content, meeting… are in relationship to each other. And super importantly: they are part of something bigger.

By definition, a fragment must be a part of something bigger, something more.

Fragments have individual value, but they are also part of a deeper meaning, where they bring value to the whole where it belongs to.

Therefore, you can look at this as an act of balance.

Through an individual piece of knowledge, you can concentrate on something specific, you can exert the masculine –Yang– energy of contraction, to create tension, and thus apply something practically.

Through a holistic (wholistic) understanding of knowledge, you can expand your awareness to the bigger picture, you can allow the feminine –Yin– energy of relaxation and meditation (or receiving) to guide you in truly understanding something in theory.

Isn’t this beautiful!?

It’s the eternal balancing act between masculine and feminine.

We are always oscillating between the two polar opposites, it’s a matter of finding the middle path, one that takes into consideration both polarities, and integrates them into oneness.

This balancing act is the most challenging task we’re ever handed in life, but also the most beautiful source of learning and growth. **

The individual needs the whole to exist.

And the whole is literally made up from individuals.

”But the Fragments are part of… WHAT WHOLE exactly?” – you ask.

Let me answer you with a (quick) story.

It has been a few years since I decided to head into a journey.

As you may know, these two basically lead to the same place, as Socrates beautifully put thousands of years ago:

My objective is to seek such wisdom, and to share my experiences and understandings with you. I want to be of the greatest service to the whole, I want to support you in your search for wisdom, however that may be.

Consider then: the Fragments you’ll receive are “Fragments of my wisdom.”

Fragments can grouped and organized in different ways.

Wisdom can take different shapes, as there are multiple perspectives through which you can picture the whole.

A good concept to understand this are Maps of Content (or MOCs).

MOC stands for Maps of Content because they map the contents of some of your notes. An MOC is a clustering of information that maps and gives structure to “notes” in context with other “notes.”

Therefore, you can have different maps, with the same notes inside them.

Fragments can belong to different ‘wholes’, by creating different Maps of Contents, and representing wisdom in different dispositions.

Therefore, the Fis Fragments are composed by both:

2. Maps.

You will receive Fragments of Wisdom, from topics I’ve studied, and lessons I’ve learned over time, through my personal understanding of reality.

But you will also get access to different Maps of Wisdom, with the Fragments being organized through different connections I’ve made, through multiple perspectives, so that you have different paths to make sense of them.

Some Fragments (or Maps) will resonate with you, while others will not.

And that is absolutely perfect.

I do challenge you, though, to read with an open mind. Be open to ideas you’re not familiar with, or not directly interested in. You might learn the most from the topics you least expect, because life isn’t linear and knowledge isn’t linear.

By confining myself to talk about a limited and linear set of topics, I am also obviously limiting the value you can receive through these emails.

This would cause an imbalance. Too much contraction, and not enough expansion.

P.S. On the other hand, my previous approach was imbalanced with too much expansion, and not enough contraction. I was trying to expand too much, and write deep and non-linear articles, with a conjunction of several ideas, that eventually became unsustainable because I couldn’t finish them.

Again, this is a balancing act… Too much water and you drown, too little and you dry out.

OK! That’s enough of philosophy for today!!!

This is it for today! I am very excited to carry out this experiment, and I’m hoping I can be of service to you during this process.

Stay connected,

Fis

* ‘Falar’ in Portuguese = ‘Talk’; ‘Fala’ is an informal greeting in Brazil, something equivalent to ‘talk to me’ or ‘hey there’

** This balancing act applies to both the individual level and the collective (societal) level… Yes, this concept is a fractal, surprise, surprise!

Final reflection: Can you look at these polarities, and identify what’s the predominant polarity in our society today?

As always, I’d be super happy to know your thoughts on this.

Did this fragment spark any insights or emotions?

I would love to know! Share them with me :)