con-texting = ‘weaving together, joining together’
‘Text’ (an explicit part) without context (the encompassing, implicit & explicit whole) has little meaning.
The main idea behind contexting or active context is to give attention and relevance to processes that are invisible or cannot be measured or quantified.
Context understood as a verb, as ongoing activity that is primary, not secondary.
By zooming out, taking fully into account context as an active, undivided, ongoing process and naming it ‘contexting,’ the emphasis is put on relation (togetherness) & process (becoming) rather than on individuality (separateness) & identity (being).
As human contextings, we can continue the old patterns of sustained incoherence, conflict and confusion, or we can try to co-create more coherently, and BE more coherent contextings, starting from within.
The 3 core principles involve wisdom, knowledge & action:
healthy body-mind
awareness, wisdom & creativity
choiceless awareness of actuality calls into question our self-worldview
and can help us see that there is more activity present, underneath the appearances, and help us inscend the world and (our) nature
more coherent reality
accurate knowledge, information
Contexting entails a world view and ontology that is
Process-based
everything is process – change & movement
the universe is but constant inward and outward movement
Organic
the world (including us) is an ensemble of organized processes, instead of “bouncing elementary building blocks”
Could it be that on both the macroscopic and the microscopic scale everything is internally related? Meaning the nature and functioning of each entity (better: process) is inwardly affected by the context, and not simply moved about externally by mechanical forces?
Holistic
there are no fully autonomous individual entities, wholeness is primordial
instead of reducing each system or organism to interactions of “elementary” particles
contrary to the widely adapted mechanistic, reductionist materialism
Meaningful action
livelihood, conduct & activism
Quasi-coherent, meaningful action naturally arises from near-coherent views and knowledge.
Change can be instigated by very subtle means (e.g. ‘gentle action’ (David Peat))
Frequently Asked Questions
Is contexting some sort of rehash of the Buddhist Eightfold Path?
Not really, the whole idea came from a very different spot, but there are indeed similarities.
We only have some notion of Buddhist teachings, the inspiration came from elsewhere.
Is contexting some kind of new age version of systems thinking?
Contexting is more old age than new age, we think, but with a deeper awareness of the ongoing processes.
We are only aware of the basics in systems thinking, mostly via the writings of David Bohm.
Symmathesy (Nora Bateson) is a concept that closely resembles contexting. It was brought to our attention years after the conception of contexting.