“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another, unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, of fix us in the present. We are made of layers, cells, constellations.”

~ Anaïs Nin

We, people, are a system. At the human level, we consist of physiological layers and emotional layers that are all interacting with each other to produce outcomes — the human system is complex. I think, from a Western point of view, we tend to look at growth in a linear manner, for example:

We exercise, our muscles grow.
We study, we learn more.
We eat healthy, we stay well.

It’s why we have a pills for everything. . . (all with “side effects”).

In all complex systems there are relationships between all these layers that go unnoticed, yet they all diverse parts of the system. Perhaps it is the fault of the conscious mind that we don’t allow ourselves to realize these connections, there’s a lot at work here. 

The quote above is about more then just a quote on growth. It is a quote on systems and complexity.

Methods to discover the complex relationships in systems include conversation mapping (pdf created by my Systems Thinking for Business Redesign Professor Bruce McKenzie) and relationship mapping. Most often these are used by large corporations to breed and understand innovation, but absolutely have benefits to anyone who wishes to understand more about a certain complex system.

Still it is a beautiful quote that reminds us to stay human and humble. To realize we are more than we can understand, to accept that and move on. . . at least in my mind

The following is an excerpt from a class project, from back when I was studying Ecological Economics. I can’t remember if I wrote this or if it was a classmate, but it was relevant and share worthy.

some examples

Open system:
Takes in and gives out both matter and energy.

The economy is an open system.

Closed system:
Imports and exports energy only; matter circulates within the system but does not flow through it.

The earth is a closed system because it does not exchange significant amounts of matter with outer space. We do have a significant throughput of energy in the form of incoming sunlight and exiting radiant heat. That throughput, like the ecosystem, is also finite and nongrowing. For the earth, the basic rule is: energy flows through, materials cycles within.

Isolated system:
Is one in which neither matter nor energy enters or exits.

The universe is an isolated system.