The Interdependence Triad And The Necessity Of Hope
Our American Dream
It is often said that this country was built upon certain principles or actions. One of the most common foundations argued for is that America was founded upon Christian or biblical principles. Another common foundation that’s highlighted is our country largely being built on the backs of black bodies and their enslaved labor. Still another foundation often portrayed is our country being based and founded on the “American dream” or the American ideal of freedom which produces health, wealth, and prosperity.
While all of these aspects and perspectives have undoubtedly played a large role in our country becoming the complex picture of America today—some to greater and some to lesser extents—the aspect I want to focus on for the moment is the aforementioned foundation of health, wealth, and prosperity: the pursuit of the American dream.
Embedded within this pursuit is the idea of safety, security, and comfort or control. These underlying ideals present us with an illusion of having achieved what we Americans long for, but the reality is far from the fantasy.
Independence?
Our country was built on this idea and ideal of independence, but the part we forget to acknowledge is that independence was only possible for our country through interdependence of the individuals within it. We aren’t created to be independent but rather interdependent. We are relational beings, and to pursue independence is an exercise in missing the point, setting ourselves up for failure. Seeking independence is building a house of cards that we blindly reinforce and protect, to our own harm as well as to the detriment of those around us.
To understand this conundrum, let’s first focus on one individual piece of the three-fold American pie—the idea of security and our pursuit of it in all areas of our lives, but I want to look at from the view of it’s inverse: insecurity.
Where does insecurity come from? Alan Watts in his book: The Wisdom Of Insecurity: A Message For An Age Of Anxiety points out that “the desire for security and the feeling of insecurity are the same thing.” This is a fascinating thought to consider for a moment. Watts is saying the very pursuit of, and desire for, security is in actuality the same experience of insecurity. Put in other words, we create insecurity by valuing and pursuing security.
When we put an overemphasis on security and place that as our chief ideal, we produce greater and greater degrees of insecurity as our identity increasingly is rooted in how secure we feel we are.
The pursuit of security results in the state of insecurity.
Dangerous Ideals
This same understanding can be seen in the other ideals of the American dream.
— By pursuing safety above all else, we increasingly become paranoid and worried about our potential blind spots, weaknesses, or places where we may be vulnerable, while simultaneously increasing our awareness of threats, or assumed threats, in our daily lives. We increasingly live on-edge and begin seeing more and more people as our enemies, threatening our safety and the American dream as a whole.
— In pursuing comfort and control as our chief aim, we, very rapidly, begin to see ourselves as the center of the universe and begin treating ourselves and others in light of that “reality.” The more comfort we have, the less we are able to adapt to the changing environment around us. The more control we have the more we fight to gain even greater control (especially over others), and we begin to become addicted to the feeling of power, entrenching ourselves in the pursuit of gaining greater power and protecting ourselves from losing any piece of the ground we’ve gained, over and above others.
Safety, security, comfort, and control—these American ideals are deadly. No, they aren’t harmful in all ways, but they are deceptively destructive, especially when they are the cultural and societal norms, and especially when they continue to enlarge fear and divisiveness among our neighbors.
This false hope of ultimate independence must be replaced with the humble acknowledgement of necessary interdependence. We need each other. And in order to recognize our need for each other, we need to see each other as they are—as uniquely important, created to play an individual role in the collective pursuit of good.
Simply put, in order to rely on one another, we must lead with faith, hope, and love.
Interdependence Triad
By replacing safety, security, and comfort or control with faith, hope, and love, we have the power and ability to shift our country’s ideal of independence toward a much more humane and unifying view of interdependence.
Love is by far the most discussed aspect of the three (and for good reason!). Faith is often a divisive topic, although I would argue that we all have faith in something (and you undoubtedly know what my faith is placed in). But hope? Now that is a part of this interdependent triad that is often overlooked or dismissed.
If love is the daily grit of interdependence in action, and faith is the foundation from which we commit to that daily action, then hope is the motivation—the catalyst—for continual efforts toward interdependence and empowerment, even in seasons and times when progress isn’t seen or felt.
Hope isn’t some fantastical idea. Hope isn’t some juvenile concept. Hope isn’t an idealist perspective.
Hope is an essential to living the good life. Hope is essential to living attached and aligned to our purpose. Hope is essential to living interdependently.
Hope is necessary.
In a time like this, I believe we need hope now more than ever. This is why I wrote Catalysts For Hope, a book that I believe can unlock energy, optimism, and our full potential in life. Catalysts For Hope will be released on September 1, 2020 and I would love nothing more than for you to get a copy of your own. Stay tuned for more information coming soon.
For now, may we all strive to lay down our need for independence and unite around the rallying cry of faith, hope, and love in order to live interdependently with one another, knowing that we are each a part of the collective whole of humanity… and you have an important role to play.
