It is not the time period that marks Third Order Intelligence, but the degree of internal integration.
These people are not fragmented by the demands and objectification of external conditioning.
Here we have the integrity of Crüe and Amai based in First Order Intelligence, but with abstract abilities.
We see the abstract abilities to imagine and reason as we saw in Cole and Amy, but these beings have obvious integrity. Their imagination and reason are based on the integrity of their experience, not made-up by self-centered stories and external belief systems.
Coeur and Aimée live with their senses vibrantly connecting to the world around them, without censor or taboo.
Their senses inform their imagination to perceive a clear, fact-based view of the world around them.
They have objective reasoning abilities that only become active when there is an incongruity to resolve – not ever presently controlling their lives.
They respect and consult their feelings as subjective guides, so they can make decisions according to their hearts.
They practice total respect for other beings – just as they wish to be treated with total respect.
Coeur and Aimée are beings who embody the fruit of human existence – with their integrity intact acting as a basis for their relationship with each other, with nature, and with themselves.
Welcome to a brief experience of Third Order Intelligence.
Welcome to the world of Coeur and Aimée.
Coeur and Aimée
A Glance into Third Order Intelligence
The nature trail was usually deserted in the late afternoon. Aimée loved to bring her book, her dreams, and her blanket. She often brought fresh fruit with her, and a little something for the birds. Aimée was learning that she needed time with herself each day to keep her life in balance.
“No one has more hours in a day than anyone else,” she remembered her father's voice instructing her, “but people have different priorities in how they use their time. You show respect to a person by respecting their time. You respect your self by respecting your own time.” Aimée was still learning to manage her needs and her time. "My time is all I really have," she mused to the oak shading her, "but that is the same for all of us, isn't it?"
The Scottish yellow-plaid tartan blanket on which she stretched was a familiar sight in the nature preserve. Aimée closed her eyes and opened her imagination. Her legs felt the breeze lift her skirt, dancing to the rhythm of the Downy woodpecker’s tapping. Aimée’s focus remained with her father. Opening the small linen pouch of birdseed, she wondered how long she would miss him so intensely. Especially she missed the comfort of talking with him – of learning to see the world through his insightful eyes. Aimée let go, laid back, and closed her eyes in self-reflection.
“Excuse me, is this space next to you taken?” interrupted a soft voice. Aimée opened her eyes shifting out of her reverie. She saw a man with a contagious grin standing just to the edge of her blanket. “This space? Taken? Next to me? Here?” she asked, more to herself than to the voice.
Although less than a minute’s hike from the trail proper, the shading oak under which she lay didn’t have anyone else near it at all – except for this voice. “This entire wilderness area is not taken,” she thoughtfully replied, still wondering how this particular space next to her could possibly be taken.
“My name is Coeur. I noticed the interesting design of your yellow tartan, and how picturesque you look laying on it. As soon as I saw you I felt I wanted to talk with you. But I don’t want to interrupt! This is awkward for me. I wondered how I might approach you. I thought to myself, if I entered a moderately full movie theater and saw you sitting by yourself – I would be drawn to come sit next to you without hesitation. But if you sat alone in an empty movie theater, I would not sit next to you without asking your permission. May I sit next to you for a time.”
Coeur’s bright eyes and open smile captured Aimée’s attention. She gave her feelings an opportunity to register their response to this gentle intruder’s request. She scanned for fear or alarm. She found only interest.
Coeur waited to give Aimée time to assess what she wanted to do. He kneeled down next to her blanket so she would not have to strain looking up at him. Aimée smiled at the image of herself sitting alone in a movie theater. She empathized with Coeur asking to sit next to her. She realized how effectively Coeur had just communicated his point of view and his feelings.
“Such a sensitive man,” reflected Aimée to herself, “how often I have imagined talking with such a man?” She remembered how she felt during the insightful conversations with her father. “Sensitive is good,” she felt her broadening grin confirm. This perceptive intruder just might embody some of what she valued in a friend. Aimée wanted to find out.
“I’m pleased to meet you Coeur. I am Aimée. Please sit. This is my favorite spot in this entire preserve. I don’t recall seeing you before.”
“I came here soak up the peacefulness,” began Coeur. “I was admiring the trees and the light. Your blanket caught my eye. It looks familiar to me, but I don’t think I have ever seen one just like it before. Can you tell me about it?”
As they talked, Coeur’s hands moved gracefully in rhythm with his voice. His animated facial gestures had a mesmerizing effect on Aimée. His natural openness made it easy for Aimée’s imagination to ‘see’ he had facets that suggested depth. She felt intrigued by how it might be to explore each of these glimmerings. Aimée realized she was being drawn to Coeur’s presence. She wanted him to come a bit closer to her. She felt the impulse to draw nearer to the exposed skin on his neck.
Coeur felt very comfortable experiencing his natural self with Aimée. He found he laughed easily. He felt understood by Aimée while using a simple economy of language. Coeur paid close attention as he watched how Aimée’s eyes conveyed a depth of feeling that resonated deeply in his chest, especially when her lips were silent. Those silent lips. Those ruddy silent lips. Those ruddy silent lips that conveyed such openness. This was the quality of connection that Coeur had oftentimes imagined to himself – Coeur’s interior stirred at feeling this special presence coming from Aimée. He enjoyed his growing attraction.
Aimée caught the enthusiasm that emanated from Coeur’s self-expression as he shared stories of his life. It felt to Aimée as though she had just discovered a new sense organ with which to take in the world. Aimée was known as an empathetic person among her friends. Emotionally, she connected easily with others – and had longed to meet someone who could give her the same connection that she so readily gave others. She felt Coeur so strongly. Could Coeur share an emotional connection with her as easily as he had shared her tartan blanket?
Aimée enjoyed Coeur’s sense of humor. She laughed seeing the world through his eyes. She laughed at how when he parodied behaviors he experienced in the world; she knew precisely what he was looking at, and how he felt about it.
Coeur moved forward, closer to Aimée, reaching his fingers alongside her auburn hair to allow a ladybug to crawl onto his index finger. Aimée lurched gently forward at the sudden opportunity to be near Coeur’s neck. Aimée’s brain extended back into a timeframe long forgotten as though she was tracing Coeur’s scent back through his lineage. At that moment Aimée knew.
Coeur’s finger as well as the ladybug perched there ready to take flight turned invisible to both Coeur and Aimée. Coeur’s keen senses noticed Aimée scanning his neck with her nose. Coeur lingered. Coeur had intentionally taken the direction of the breeze into account when he chose his spot on the blanket. Aimée’s fragrance had filled Coeur’s nose and brain the entire time they had been chatting.
Aimée’s deliberate pause conveyed to Coeur that the attraction was shared. “This ladybug does not want to leave your presence, Aimée,” I'll return him to the softness of your hair.” Aimée understood Coeur’s message.
“I’m glad you came over and introduced yourself, Coeur,” beamed Aimée. “I hope this tartan talisman is host to our meeting again – soon.” Aimée felt light-headed as she offered her hand to Coeur. “Thank you for letting me share the seat next to you in this empty movie theater Aimée,” smiled Coeur “I’m so glad I didn’t just walk by without speaking with you. I look forward to learning more about you Aimée – when may I see you again?”
Aimée stretched out onto her Scottish blanket in gleeful satisfaction. This was the day her father had spoken to her about. No wonder he had been in her thoughts earlier. “I’ll be here tomorrow at lunchtime Coeur,” she offered, “would you like to join me for a picnic?”
Coeur’s heart pounded as though it belonged to a racehorse which just finished in first place. He had never been so effected in meeting someone before. As he began to straighten himself up, his brain began connecting fragmented experiences that he had puzzled over. The mystery behind the recurring dreams of the Scottish tartan blanket flashed before him; the blanket with the same pattern as he was now sitting on with his new friend. Coeur stood up with a new sensibility. “I would love to share a picnic with you tomorrow, Aimée, what can I bring?” His mouth would not let go of the broad smile that had captured his lips - a smile that would live there for a very long time.
The world of Crüe and Amai was based in sensation and emotion without abstraction. There was a directness, integrity, and authenticity to their experience. Although they did not converse, they were able to meet their needs and experience satisfaction and fulfillment in relating to each other, and themselves.
The world of Coeur and Aimée is also based in the concrete fabric of sensation and emotion. Here abstraction is integrated into this fabric. Their integrity, directness, and authenticity is enhanced by abstraction, not undermined by it. The satisfaction and fulfillment that Coeur and Aimée experience is rooted in the solidity of their sensation and emotion - not in the airiness of abstraction and social judgment.
We contrast this with the world of Cole and Amy in which the integrity of their sensations and emotions are sacrificed for external abstractions. The result is that Cole and Amy are mostly disconnected from an authentic experience of themselves, and left with ill-fitting roles to play. They confuse the appearance of integrity for the experience of integration.
Can Cole and Amy learn to experience themselves and each other with the quality, integrity, and depth that Coeur and Aimée demonstrate and enjoy? What would it take for them to learn to connect with themselves and each other in this way?