Buckminster Fuller's Experiment: What CAN One Person Accomplish?

I read Buckminster Fuller's Universe by Lloyd Steven Sieden at the recommendation of a client, and was so struck by a passage in the preface that I wanted to share it with you.

"Fuller became so adamant about the contribution he could make that in 1927 he actually created an experiment using himself as "Guinea Pig B" (for "Bucky"). The specific purpose of this experiment was to determine and document what one individual could accomplish on behalf of all humanity which could not be achieved by any organization, government or business, regardless of its size or power. That experiment remained a critical element of Fuller's daily life until his death fifty-six years later.

Can you see the depth of the love in that experiment? What greater love is there than to say, I am going to dedicate my life to this experiment—the experiment of seeing how much goodness, love, creativity and beauty I can bring to the world in my lifetime?

I think about goals a lot. I engage in hours of conversation every week with individuals about their goals, and I think about my own as well. Maybe you are thinking about your goals, too.

So many of our goals have to do with our external life (my Hapkido instructor might refer to this as "laksana" or "sang", the visual substance of life). We want more money, more time, more organization, more happiness, to come to conclusions about our best career direction, to get our bodies in shape—you know the routine.

Often these goals have to do with a sense of lack or dissatisfaction. We need more of something, like money or status—or less of something, like cellulite, or clutter.

So, Bucky has me thinking now. What if we shifted our focus to WHO we want to be rather than WHAT we want to have/get rid of? To what we wanted to give/contribute rather than what we want to receive? What would happen in your life if your single resolution was to experiment with how much love/goodness/beauty/creativity you could bring to the world/your particular corner of it?

Notice the word experiment.

You don't have to know exactly what this is going to look like. Allow yourself to be more curious than certain, and let your single resolution simply be the guiding principle by which you assess your actions.

Think about it. If one wants to bring more love to the World, that includes everything. Bucky used the term "Universe" without "the" in front of it. He chose to do this because using "the" separates Universe from Us. Universe isn't separate, it is everything, all inclusive and we are fully integrated with it and influenced by it. (Whether we are aware of this or not—think eco-systems—eco-systems have always existed, even though our awareness of such integration is a very new development.) Viewing ourselves as separate (from Universe, Nature, others) is dangerous.

Here's an example. In practical terms, if I want to bring more love to the World, and I really stay present to that thought, I am far less likely to eat things that are bad for me. Filling myself with unhealthy food is not an expression of love (for myself, in this case). Serving unhealthy food to others is similarly inconsistent with my overarching desire for my life to bring more love to the world.

And there are ripples from shifts like this.

Article Author: Laura Young

Laura Young is a life coach, author, photographer, and "deep water fish". If you enjoy her articles and are chewing over some big questions in your own life, please pay her a visit at Wellspring Coaching, where she has many additional resources for you. …

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