what is a "(with)ripple"?

I want to share a bit about what my name means and how it relates to my work. 

I became ripple while spending a few months in a radical fairie commune in New Mexico where other people had cool and silly names, which was very permission-giving. I was going by "Tom" at the time but also was taking estrogen, which felt like an interesting, but somewhat unwelcome gender contradiction.

The word "ripple" had been buzzing around my mind even before I left. At the time, it seemed weird to follow that tug because there was no real logical reason for it... but following my intuition, I took on the name ripple with a few weeks left on this trip. There was no formal ceremony as there usually would be when someone took a new name (the community was not holding to their traditional practices cuz of conflict vibes that had some folks quite sour with each other). So I just started introducing myself as ripple to each person, crossing the threshold in each conversation. 

When I arrived home to St. Louis, I "soft launched" ripple – going by both ripple and Tom. I have since basically entirely stopped going by Tom, which is a relief I did not expect. As time goes on I understand more and more about why I have chosen this name. 

It's funny the things people say to me when I introduce myself: 

"oh, like the ripple effect!" 

"nice, just like that grateful dead song"

"riddle? oh, ripple gotcha."

None of that bothers me too much, but it's not right.

As a materialist, the meaning I feel in my name can be glimpsed through:

~ Quantum Field Theory ~

Because of QFT, we now know that all particles, literally every single physical thing in the universe, are ripples in a quantum field. Of course this is ancient knowledge but I'll get to that.

Put another way, at the super micro level, all matter exists in particle-wave duality – of being both a wave and a particle until they are measured. The trippy thing is that this is not because of a direct physical interaction from these measurements, this particle-wave duality exists because the "what and where" that is being measured doesn't EXIST until it is measured. In this video, Karen Barad, a philosopher and particle physicist, explains this well as a few other absolutely wild theories supported by current experimental physics.

I'll just summarize three (big) points:

1) There is no "separation" between the object that is measured and the apparatus or observer that measures it. Again, this is because the "what and where" that is being measured doesn't even exist until it is measured;

thus the world is not made up of independently existing objects, but of these kinds of interactions between objects and "observer" (the "observer" being any apparatus that interacts with an object);

thus all measurements and all material interactions contribute to the ongoing materialization of the world. The world is materialized in an ongoing manner in relationship with itself. Karen talks about this as "self-touching" in other areas of her work.

2) Space and time are not given and set (as the ticking clock of integrated world economic systems would have us believe), space and time are truly physically produced through the interactions that occur in the world. Also, all of time is happening simultaneously, which is a truly wild statement (lots to unpack there but that's another post).

3) Particles interact with each other in terms of "being themselves." Particles are only themselves through all others. They have to interact with all others in order to be themselves. Thus the entire world is within every particle that exists.

But for those of you to whom this sounds like whatever gobbledegook nonsense, this is basically "western" big-time science-guy-level PROOF that all possible moments and all possible arrangments of matter are entangled into every single particle in the present (and across all time). And that everything we do affects the way that the world actually is.

This is physical evidence that NOTHING can exist independently of anything else. Every real and possible part of the universe is literally within every other part and transforms it from within. Nothing can be separated. Nothing can be erased. We are all just ripples interacting with each other. Intersecting. Contributing to each others' ongoing materialization.

This is already ancient knowledge within many indigenous cultures across the earth. They didn't need the "scientific" proof that many of us find so compelling to trust what they felt as true.

The point of this is not that our experience is all in our heads or that we can manifest the exact reality we want into being – it's that everything is connected and transforms from within. Nothing is waste. And oppression works by making us forget that.

"Simple tricks" to get the life you want and spiritual bypassing which deny the material conditions of economic oppression under the uber-rich, prey on the material precariousness that most of us experience. These function to make us forget the transformative power we have – by putting all our attention on getting enough or being successful by the standards of the system itself, while taking your money, time, and energy. If anything or anyone tries to get you to erase or hide something about yourself there is some bullshit at play.

So as an essential and connected part of the world, I claim my little rippleness. I have an effect within the world to make a new future. And I'm incredibly powerless in my little life. All I can do is move my little materials around to resist, hold mine and other people's bodies, and make up some little words that maybe change how people think, do and be.

And that's actually fucking important. For all of us. To accept both our powerlessness AND power to act in ways that really happen, that really matter. Even though we are "just" ripples in a field. Just like everything else.

More traditional therapists and coaches tend to talk about mechanical routines and processes to achieve outcomes for their clients (ala "3 simple steps to relaxing"). Don't get me wrong, that kind of shit is extremely helpful and necessary at times. Sometimes we do have to put our head down and get some shit done. But those times must be balanced with real presence, acceptance, and witnessing. We must be WITH each other to find real traction. 

Without traction, we spin and spin in our little circles, bumping into each other, hurting, harming, and getting exploited and extracted from by those who have the power to do so (the uber-wealthy power elite that manages earth-wide capitalism, which is frighteningly much more akin to feudalism than how capitalism used to operate at the turn of the 20th century).

All "good" practitioners know that really at the end of the day, there are no set processes. Every human has the potential to know exactly what they specifically need, especially once they are properly resourced with care and knowledge and other people's presence, even if they find and express their needs by being an asshole. There are simply an incredible number of strategies that can get you from point A to point B.

The idea that there is any single way to do anything is fed to us through mass media and social media (the manufactured "spectacle") and through our material interactions with authority figures in our families, schools, religious centers, and government. It is a lie that manufactures an experience of knowledge scarcity that serves the power-elite.

We all actually get to be here with each other, connected to everything. It's a simple truth that you can touch yourself and know.

I offer myself as "a ripple in a field" to be WITH you. As a (with)ripple. In your own rippleness.

To me this means:

• I offer myself as a witness for you. 
• I offer to share my own experiences and peel back the curtain of alienation that we are so pummelled with every day.
• I offer myself to share what I think is ethical and right so we can build our integrity deeper WITH each other. 
• I offer to help you find your power to ask for what you want in your life and in our relationship. And I will ask for what I want as well, out of respect for you.

I'm certainly not the practitioner that's gonna show you the right way. I'm just one to be with you, to tell you what *I* think, and to see you for the beauty and power that you are (and hopefully help you see that too). This is the medicine that's much more than any 3-step process can bring. This is the medicine to the delusion of separateness we are collectively stuck in. 

[waves] hey! yo! im right here! and woa there you are! what a gift we get to be together! let me give you a hand. 

with love that's entangled across all possible times and places,

your (with)ripple