JOurneY Method
The JOurneY Method describes a 4-step process for stewarding meaning.
Step 1: evaluate our current model. Our personal models come from a variety of sources: biology, parents/tribe, society. In this step we must first extract the model from within and describe it, attributing the key components of the model and where it came from. Describing our models can be tricky as we often can't see them clearly. Soliciting help from others on our journey who have had a chance to see our model can aid greatly in describing our model. Once the model is described, we can evaluate the positive and negative aspects of the model. What works and what doesn't? While feedback from others is invaluable, it is solely for us to evaluate our model.
Step 2: experience a new model. Select a new model from the "model store." We can choose from any number of sources,
we choose a new meaning model to replace the Stage 1 Model. Stage 2 is experienced both in opposition to Stage 1 and in increasing adoption of Stage 2. There are 2 competing programs and we are affirmed in our new choice. We go from having a job to being an entrepreneur; from Democrat to Republican; from Christian to Buddhist (or vice versa). Stage 2 progresses similarly to Stage 1, at first with increasingly positive results. Many will be satisfied and stay here for the duration. However, just as with Stage 1, Stage 2 breaks down for some and they experience increasingly negative effects. At this point we have come full circle. The individual has 3 choices: return to Stage 1, go in search of a new Stage 2 Model or enter Stage 3.
Stage 3 is a true departure from the first two stages. Unlike Stage 1, we are choosing our meaning model. Unlike Stage 2, we take full responsibility for creating our own meaning rather than choosing from a set of externally-defined alternatives. Our meaning comes from within ourselves and we are the authors of our program. In Stage 3 we adopt the positive aspects from the earlier stages, while discarding the negatives. This stage also never ends because we continually curate our meaning, not just from our first 2 stages, but from any other models and new information we come into contact with. The test of success in Stage 3 is not compliance with a model but in finding what is true for ourselves. Our mindset shifts from outcome-orientation to process-orientation.
Human beings have multiple aspects - physical (gender, sexuality, race), spiritual, core energy (see MRE Model), political, work, etc. All of these aspects are independent melodies in the fugue of our being. Each of these can be stewarded through the 3 stages. Stage 4 occurs when all the core aspects of an individual are Stage 3-ing. In Stage 4, the individual works to harmonize all their aspects to make one integrated meaning program. This is each person's unique House of Meaning.
The core action of journeying is stewardship. Stewardship is the act of assisting the unique expression of a being. We begin by stewarding our own journey and extend stewardship to others, organizations, communities and nature.
Resources
JOurneY of Communication Experience