Entelechy…. The condition of a thing whose essence is fully actualized. ~ Aristotle
I came across a new (i.e., new to me) concept the other day and wanted to understand it more fully. The concept is Entelechy. Entelechy is originated from the Greek word entelekheia or entelecheia, which means “to have perfection‟ or in philosophy, “that which realizes or makes actual what is otherwise merely potential.”[1]
Aristotle made distinctions between potentiality and actuality[2]. In his writings in De Anima (“On the Soul”), he distinguished the stuff things are made of (matter) from the form, essence or function needed to bring together the stuff or elements. Matter exists together with entelechy as a complete being. If matter is without entelechy, then it is only the primary matter, with bare potentiality, and it cannot be realized by itself.
There is this burning energy
Locked within my pores,
Pulsing always, never sleeping
Regardless if my mind abhors.
There is this subtle dignity
In life’s refusal to submit,
For even when I sleep and dream
My body does never remit
In its ceaseless, waking, pumping,
Not unlike the tides and rivers,
Guilded perfectly in nature;
Nourishing the spheres of givers.[3]
~Monos Unalos
Now, here is the key to this concept………… what we could become is conditional and/or situational. What does that mean? It means that your internal code needs to be read and deciphered just like the acorn becomes the great oak tree, like the butterfly is inside of the caterpillar. It also means that your mindset and your environment matter.
Leaving it up to fate, not embracing the quest to self-actualize our own potential, or getting complacent in our own cocoon means that we never turn our potential into reality. Entelechy is all about the possibilities encoded in each of us. So do the work, read, and decipher your code. Bring the elements together to create the necessary conditions in which a potentiality has become an actuality.
[1] Entelechy | Definition, Example, Aristotle, & Leibniz | Britannica
[2] Entelechy and Archetypal Information (bizint.com)
[3] Entelechy – Entelechy Poem by Monos Unalos (poemhunter.com)
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