Exploring the relationship between CMM and Theory of Positive Disintegration
This past July, Abbie VanMeter and Sergej van Middendorp had the opportunity to present a session titled, “Improvising Personal and Social Evolution with the Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD) and the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM)” at the 2024 Dabrowski Congress. This experience was a testament to emergence in our lives and work.
Let’s go back to the beginning and track the turns… Upon discovering the Theory of Positive Disintegration, Sergej and Marit Eikaas Haavimb hosted a CMM and TPD webinar for the CMMi community in November 2022. Following this, Marit recommended that Abbie reach out to Chris Wells and Emma Nicholson, President and Vice President of the Dabrowski Center and hosts of the Positive Disintegration Podcast. In 2023, Abbie, Chris, and Emma recorded a conversation for the Stories Lived. Stories Told. podcast (Part 1 & Part 2), and have been in conversation ever since. In June 2024, Abbie and Sergej were guests on Chris and Emma’s podcast (Building Better Social Worlds with Theory); and in July 2024, virtually attended and presented at the Dabrowski Congress.
Initially, it was clear the ways that CMM and TPD complement each other in practice, and the relationship and possibilities have only grown in the past year and a half. Abbie and Sergej’s presentation included a portion of dialogue with attendees that sparked meaningful engagement and the opportunity for Abbie and Sergej to share about other CMMi initiatives like CosmoActivities. Since the presentation, some participants have requested physical donations of the CosmoKidz and CosmoTweenz activities through the CosmoActivities site.
One additional turn is that, as a result of this presentation, Abbie and Sergej have been asked to write a paper for the next instalment of Advanced Development—a peer reviewed journal that concerns itself with issues of adult giftedness and personality development—in early 2025. Here is what Abbie had to say on reflection:
“While I truly believe that all the work we do at the CMM Institute is meaningful and reaches people (whether I am a witness to it or not), this experience made those ripples more visible than I have been able to see in my work so far. Teaching people about CMM is a large part of what I already do on the podcast, but I don’t get to directly interact with a live audience and see the “click” moment of people “getting it” in real time. But I was able to experience that in our podcast guest appearance on the Positive Disintegration Podcast and our presentation at the Dabrowski Congress, and it was so powerful! I was (and still am) very grateful that Sergej invited me to collaborate with him on this project; this was my first time presenting at a conference and it made me hungry for more! I am hopeful that I can continue to help spread the word about Coordinated Management of Meaning in this way in the future.”
Sergej added:
“Both CMM and TPD came on my path as synchronicities, emerging at critical times as fitting ways to engage with major choices and developments as a person, with my family and in my research and work. One way that I see us truly facing our reality and working with it is by connecting communities that are kindred-spirited and foster collaboration that helps them grow whole together without diluting–even deepening their own development in the process. I have seen that happen between the CMM and TPD communities. And I look forward to making next steps in that story. I am thankful for all the people that made this happen, and especially to Abbie for working together in these last turns.”
If you would like to watch the recording of Abbie and Sergej’s DC2024 presentation and dialogue, you can purchase access to the virtual sessions of the Congress through the end of 2024 for the cost of $30.
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