BOOK: Call to Connection by Carole Kammen and Jodi Gold
New Tribalism
As we enter a new Millenium, we find ourselves living in a shrinking world with disintegrating boundaries. Between advances in computer technology and increasingly accesible travel, there are few if any tribes left on earth that have not been touched by the world outside their own tribal reality. It's unlikely we will return to living in a small tribal order, hidden away somewhere in the wilderness, untouched by the world at large. Such a return is not what we advocate.
The idea is no to preserve an outmoded ideal of tribe. The idea is to bring alive a new one. The new tribalism asks us to let go of the notion that the tribe is something that exists only outside of us. This new tribalism invites us to complete the circle by taking the whole tribe back inside each of us, by finding an inner equivalent of our external tribe. To make this work, we need to relate to the people in our lives- our friends, lovers, co-workers, children- as if they are a symbolic reflection of our own internal cast of characters.
Remember, the only reason we'd notice any of their characteristics is if we already had an inner equivalent. If we are willing to take in our tribe, we can welcome the people in our lives not just like they are others, separate from us, but like they are part of ourselves.
With this simple change in perception, each tribe member becomes a gift to us, each one holding perspectives and capacities that we, too, can learn to embody. Even the idea that this might be true allows for a level of sharing, compassion, and richness not available from our separation. This change guides us to new range of ability within ourselves, freeing us from livig in the narrow confines of our USUAL PERCEPTION. It also leads us to view others with a heightened respect and appreciation.