Not Important but Integral...

I was reflecting recently on self-worth and imposter syndrome, stimulated by a podcast I was listening to. I am sure we can all say we’ve experienced people, maybe even ourselves, who seem to need to be thought of as important, important to companies, partners and families, the public. And when a standard of importance isn’t met, the self-esteem erodes and negative emotions can get stirred up—anger, jealousy, envy, self-judgment, comparisons.

To me, the word important seems to imply a hierarchy, as in the most important or of the greatest importance, maybe less important or hardly-at-all important. To say someone is important sets us up for categorizing people into a value that is based on personal or collective opinion and not very nuanced or critically analyzed. We could name a few people right now who are considered important, but are they? Are they more important than those who tend the gardens that feed us, or teach the children, or create art or build our homes, or those who help those in poverty or those who are ill? Of course not. We live within a vast web of interconnectedness, and at our best we are all playing a role in the whole.

So, to address the work of the ego just a bit, we might say that while we are not important, we are integral. For me, that means that if we are alive, we are a living representation of the biological tapestry and all that comes from that, and therefore everything we do while we are alive is weaving that thread into the collective experience for all living beings. The confusion of our individuality and independence versus the interdependence with all of life can easily be overlooked, as we are slow-cooking in a stew of our previous conditioning and repeating the past.

So I invite you into a contemplation…when you sit with being “important” what comes to you, what do you think and feel about yourself? And if you then ask what it means for you to be Integral to life, what does that feel like? What does it look like? How does it inform your activities in life, your decision-making, and your interactions? When you think about someone you might consider “important” in this world, what are the qualities of that? And if you look at how they are instead integral, does anything change in your mind about them?

When I go to the Integral, what I see is just how much we are inter-connected and that each person and living thing has equal standing and a unique purpose and role to play while here. We are stewards, but we are not the only stewards. All creatures have an innate awareness of the natural order that maintains balance. Human importance drives one-upsmanship, which I believe contributes to the potential for depression and anxiety, a rampant problem in our world. Being integral is a softer, more inclusive sense of belonging. It naturally wants to make things harmonious for all. I also have deep reverence for each individual’s unique contribution and the fact that no other person on the planet, throughout time and space, will ever contribute in the same way or just on their own. And I think feeling existentially integral in life is more valuable to the whole than feeling important. It feels like a noble collaboration that honors all beings, all creatures, and understands that it must be consonant with life, not antagonistic.

I salute you, Integral Being! Thanks for reading,

Melanie

Please feel free to reach out to me at Melanie@innertegrity.com, if you need support in some area of your life, and visit my website, https://www.innertegrity.com for more information. Thanks for visiting!