Many Paths, One Field

why we need diverse approaches to adult development

In a time of complexity and possible collapse, there is no single path to wisdom.

The challenges we face today - existential, ecological, and relational - require us not only to think differently, but to become different. This is the work of adult development, not merely acquiring new knowledge, but cultivating deeper awareness, fuller embodiment, and relational maturity. And just as no single therapy or tradition can heal every wound, no single method of development can speak to every soul.

This is why I want to affirm something that should be obvious, but often gets lost in our algorithmic age: we need many ways to approach growth.

Recently, Peter Limberg published a series on his Less Foolish Substack entitled Less Foolishism. In it he describes a practical, inquiry-based approach that blends Socratic method, existential curiosity, and rigorous conceptual exploration. It’s a method that invites us to step into philosophical inquiry as a lived practice, one that helps us trace what he calls “existential knots.” He suggests loosening them through inquiry, the act of seeking truth and understanding through open-ended questioning and reflection in the presence of someone holding space.

As he states, Less Foolishism is “a practical philosophy helps us think clearly about our lives.” (my emphasis)

I deeply respect this work. It’s lucid, creative, and intellectually generous. For those drawn to philosophy, language, and emergent concepts, Less Foolishism offers a beautiful doorway into self-understanding and transformation.

And my approach is different, shaped by a different lineage, aimed at different thresholds of experience, and therefore, will probably resonant with different people.

A Relational Path Grounded in the Body

The foundation of my work is Gestalt Awareness Practice (GAP), woven together with the wisdom of the Enneagram. This path isn’t primarily philosophical or conceptual. It’s relational and embodied. It invites us to return to the felt sense of being alive and to the present moment where choice and change become possible.

The Three Jewels of Gestalt Awareness Practice, originally articulated by Dick Price and later adapted by Steven Harper, are: awareness, choice, and trust.

• Awareness is the capacity to make direct contact with our present-moment experience - sensations, emotions, thoughts, and impulses. It is the foundation of all meaningful change.

• As awareness deepens, it opens the door to choice - the ability to recognize possibilities and take responsibility for our actions. With choice, we move from habitual reactivity to conscious responsiveness.

• This responsiveness is sustained by trust - a confidence in the natural intelligence of the organism, including its capacity for self-regulation, co-regulation with others, and even a kind of ecosystemic co-regulation. Trust invites us to attune to life’s unfolding with greater receptivity and alignment.

Together, these three capacities support a dynamic movement from unconscious patterning to relational wholeness, grounding us in presence, guiding wise action, and restoring coherence within ourselves and with the world around us.

This inner coherence creates the conditions for a different kind of attention called presence, one that is spacious, curious, and kind. We notice our habits and contractions, not to fix them, but to thin them out, to create room for spontaneity and integrity to emerge. When paired with the Enneagram, which maps how our personalities formed in response to nine existential givens, this practice becomes a powerful tool for transformation, not just personally, but relationally and collectively.

Where Peter might ask, “What is the knot in your philosophical landscape?”, I might ask, “What are you noticing (as sensation, feelings, and thoughts) when you share that story?” We’re pointing to the same territory: what it means to be human, to be awake, and to live wisely but we’re using different keys to unlock the door.

Conceptual Intelligence and Relational Wisdom

Some of us need to think our way into feeling. Others need to feel our way into thought. Both are necessary. And both, when integrated, move us closer to what I call relational coherence - a state where our inner world, our relationships, and our actions align…for the betterment of the whole - our wholeness, the wholeness of the situation, and ultimately, for the wholeness of reality, itself.

The metacrisis, after all, is not just about systems or politics. It is a crisis of relationship, a rupture in how we relate to ourselves, each other, and the natural world. It will not be solved by cleverness alone. It will require whole humans, people who have done the inner work of integration and the outer work of repair.

That’s why I believe it’s not only okay that there are multiple approaches to adult development; it’s essential. We need different voices. Different languages. Different entry points.

The Field Is Bigger Than We Think

Some will resonate with Peter Limberg’s poetic dialectics and conceptual mapping. Others will find themselves in the quiet ground of Gestalt practice and the archetypal insights of the Enneagram.¹ And many will weave the two or more together, creating hybrid paths as unique as their own lived experience.

So my invitation is this:

Let’s stop trying to find the one right method or set of methods. Let’s build a field of practice that honors difference, celebrates resonance, and makes space for the full spectrum of becoming.

What matters most isn’t the model we choose; it’s whether that model helps us become more whole, relational, and aligned with life.

Because ultimately, our collective future depends on it.

1. Teacher’s like Don Riso and Russ Hudson describe each point of the Enneagram as responding to a core existential challenge. My next article will lay these out in more detail. However, for now, here is a brief summary:

How do I live with tension between the ideal and what is?

How do I meet my own needs while giving to others?

Who am I beyond my accomplishments?

How do I live meaningfully in a world that feels incomplete?

How can I give of myself without feeling depleted?

How do I trust myself in the midst doubt?

Can I stay present with what is difficult without trying to escape?

Can I be open without losing my personal power?

How do I assert myself without creating conflict?