Several years ago, I began thinking about an idea I eventually dubbed the “Sphere of Power.” I had recently moved to Washington, DC to begin working for the federal government. Power is in the air in that city. I worked within a few square miles of many of the world’s most powerful people and their henchmen. I worked in a bureaucracy that exerted its power in various ways over its employees and citizens. Every day I came into contact with other people working for other agencies, or contracted by other agencies, or working with the military who were all touched by power in a multitude of ways. And I observed tourists mesmerized by that power as it took the solid shapes of monuments, buildings, and historic points of interest.
At the time, I felt like a powerless, invisible speck of sand on a sprawling beach. I was just starting out in my career, trying to figure out my role, and wanting to make a difference. I began to feel my eagerness butt heads with established ways of doing business, impressing some, and grating on others who didn’t like my meritocratic approach to government work. So it was within that framework that I began thinking about the Sphere of Power.
First things first. What is a Sphere of Power? Simply, it encompasses any living creature over which a person has control, and by extension the items or organizations manipulated or needed by those creatures. For example, if you are a parent, your Sphere of Power includes your children, presumably your house, your lawn, and your pets, if you have them. Depending on your neighborhood, it could include your neighbors. You control some aspect of the fate and welfare of everything within your Sphere’s figurative borders. Your Sphere can be static, or dynamic.
It’s my hypothesis that every human has at least one Sphere of Power, and most people work to expand those they have, and gain new ones. We take pride in cultivating our Spheres. They provide us with intrinsic happiness. Some of us are benevolent in our leadership; some of us are not. Some of us are benevolent some of the time, but not always. Most of us wish to be benevolent, but a few people will use that desire against us to further their own Spheres. As the number of Spheres increases, the greater the likelihood there will be conflict, which may or may be externalized. It is from these conflicts of interest between Spheres that clashes are spawned. Clashes can be with other people or within ourselves, and are more likely to occur when we are not aware of all Spheres surrounding us. Spheres come in different magnitudes, depending on how many entities are under our control, and the impact of that power. Some people are content to be the head of the household (which could just be their own body); others want to rule the world. Most of us fall somewhere in between. We all have at least one Sphere.
When I worked in DC, I used to ride the commuter bus. To ride the bus, you needed to buy tokens. To make things easier, riders could buy tokens on the bus instead of schlepping to the bus depot. So, the buses would ordain some frequent regular riders with the power to sell the tokens. One such person was a woman I remember with whimsical fondness. She was talkative, and based on conversations I’d heard her have with others in our bus line, she worked at another government agency. She also liked horses, which is not relevant to the story except that I learned a lot about her because, well, she talked a lot. She probably had low to medium power in her job at a not very sexy agency. She was a tad overweight, and a bit past mid-life, but you could tell how much pride she took in her power to bequeath tokens upon the masses. I renamed her “Token Goddess.”
Through my observations of Token Goddess, the concept of a Sphere of Power began to germinate. As human beings, even the least ambitious among us, we generally want our lives to mean something, and we want to matter to someone, or something. How we learn to relate to each other socially is wrapped up in our understanding of our Sphere’s of Power, even though it’s largely subconscious. By learning what motivates us, drives us, and what we take pride in, and in turn learning those things about other people we interact with, our speech craft skills improve. As much as I believe rational discourse must drive us forward as a species, the fact is we are both rational and emotional creatures. In understanding the Sphere of Power, we can better frame both aspects of our nature.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been working on what I call my Code of Life. I plan on constantly updating it as I grow and learn. I do not want it to become stagnant or unchangeable. Some ideas on the list may never change, or change slightly, but in my endeavor to improve myself, the items on this list will serve as guideposts of my world view, and help to succinctly inform readers of my highest values. Today I added a guidepost about the Sphere of Power, which is why I decided to write this post. I’d love to hear your thoughts either here or there! What do you think are some of your Spheres of Power? Are you happy with them? Why or why not?
Cheers,
PersephoneK
