The Mississippi Suite
A CMPE about an Unusual Leader of a Bicycle Group

I had announced the publication of the book on IntegralLife.com. Not long after, a man named Charles Bowling came on, said that he had read the book and had experienced his own CMPEs. He said, "For the most part my experience with CMPE's has shown them to be confirmatory in nature." I responded, "If indeed what you've been experiencing are what I would call CMPEs, then my experience, too, is that they are usually confirming. That being said, they have a tremendous freedom to comment. They often criticize, offer completely new ideas, and, as you mention, make predictions. As I have learned better how to work with them, I've found that what initially seems like a kind of simple confirmation may actually contain a wealth of counsel, some of it under headings other than confirmation. So you might want to delve more deeply into the experiences you've had that fit this model." Charles then shared what he felt was a CMPE he had experienced and that led to the exchange that follows, in which I confirmed that this did indeed appear to be a genuine example. Charles has graciously allowed me to share his CMPE and would like it to be said that CMPE's can be ecumenical in nature, and are not necessarily linked to any one religious tradition, something I heartily agree with. Our dialogue can be found at http://integrallife.com/member/robert-perry/blog/cmpes-new-way-seeking-guidance

Hi Robert,

For the sake of clarity (both for you and others who may read this) what follows is an example of what you have called a CMPE.

Shortly before retirement i was running a bicycle group, called aptly enough Trail Riders.…Ours was a 26 week schedule from May through October, interspersed with the many local Sunday morning rides were occasional out of town trips, sometimes two days sometimes three.

Late one winter when i was planning the upcoming year's schedule i drove west to scout a portion of what is called the Grand Illinois Trail (it's a big loop that links Northern Illinois from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River)….i started up my truck, planning to head north on a road that parallels both the Mississippi and the trail; when i punched the button on my radio. Much to my surprise the FM station was playing a program that had been produced by WFMT my favorite radio station at home. The announcer said that the next selection was to be by Frede Grofe (famous for his Grand Canyon suite); but what astonished me was that he had also composed another suite of thematic music, depicting yet another geographical location, this time stretching from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, just outside New Orleans. It was called the Mississippi Suite.

It left me with a sense of extraordinary appropriateness, in that as i drove along, listening while keeping an eye on the road, looking for signs of the trail, as well as the great river, that everything was just as it most fittingly could be!

So perhaps you can see how i primarily took this to be confirming experience; although it did contain a hint of prediction, in that later in the year not only did we ride along the Mississippi but took a second outing to Southern Illinois, that not only included a tunnel trail, the vistas of the gardens of the gods, but a stroll along a dike designed to protect a small town from the occasional ravages of a flood of the Ohio River -which of course like the Illinois River is also a tributary to the mighty Mississippi….

Warmly,

Charles

* * * * *

Charles,

That may well have been a CMPE. Here are the parallels I see between the two events (you scouting out the Grand Illinois Trail, you hearing Frede Grofe's Mississippi Suite on the radio):

  • A man (you, Grofe) is leading others in an appreciation (via bike ride, via musical piece) of a certain part of the country;
  • This part is specifically a geographic route or course (trail, river);
  • This route covers a sizable area in the Midwest;
  • It starts in a northern lake (Lake Michigan, Lake Itasca);
  • It includes (or is) the Mississippi River;
  • a man is driving on a road that parallels this route.

I feel confident that this was a CMPE. It is slightly thin on the parallels, but I do feel it's over the bar, and my guess is that if I had full access to all the details of both events, there could well be a few more parallels. Usually, when you have six parallels of this quality (both specific and coherent), there will be at least a couple more. So yeah, I think this fits my model of CMPEs.

Assuming this was a CMPE, I would say that it not only was meant to confirm your choice of the Grand Illinois Trail, but also affirm (through the symbol of Grofe's Mississippi Suite) your role in leading others in an aesthetic appreciation of the Grand Illinois Trail. You are likened to a composer leading others into a deeply satisfying aesthetic experience. (If I knew more about Grofe and this particular piece of his, the symbol might be even richer.) So in the end, it may be more about your role in leading the Trail Riders than about this particular trail. That is often the case with CMPEs-while commenting on some specific thing they are also, and mainly, making a larger comment.

Thanks for the example!

Robert

* * * * *

Hi Robert,

Having read your book, there was little doubt in my mind that the example from my life previously posted fit your description of a CMPE; but now that i have your kind response it's clearer to me exactly what you mean by a parallel.

Grofe was a conductor as well a composer; and in addition to leading the Trail Riders group i was also the author (composer) of our annual Ride Book -a production that over the years increased in complexity and comprehensiveness. It was thematic in content, mapping place to place, parallel to the thematic content in the music that provided a similar mapping the from the headwaters of the Mississippi to its mouth. Typically conductors use a baton when leading an orchestra, mostly so that the orchestra members don't stray from the tempo he sets. It was also my custom to ride at the head of the line while pedaling with the Trail Riders; while my bike was equipped with a pennant mounted on baton-like rod that the members often relied on to keep both tempo and on track.

And unknown to you there was a particularly poignant esthetic experience later in the year when we cycled along the tunnel trail in Southern Illinois. It happened on a bridge-like overpass where we stopped and looked down, not at rail, water, or some valley vista, but the tops of trees! They were so close we could almost reach out and touch them; experiencing them in a way that only a bird coming in for a landing has opportunity. Collectively we were so touched by this scene that each and every one fell into silence, and marveled at the moment.

I don't exactly know what to do with this phenomenon -this CMPE business; but i'm happy to have it in my armamentarium….

So i thank you for making this phenomenon more clear to me, as it's likely sooner or later to be put to good use; and what i've had to say here may have some additional confirmatory value for you. The image that comes to mind's eye is that of one hand washing the other.

Warmly,

Charles

* * * * *

Charles,

I really appreciated what you shared above. It does seem that, as the leader of the Trail Riders, you were strikingly like Grofe's composer-conductor figure. How interesting! The CMPE really seems to have tapped into the heart and soul of your role as leader of the bicycle club. This is very much how they operate. They tap into central things about us, often things that help others understand us better or even help us understand ourselves better.

By the way, your comment that the "thematic content in the music [the Mississippi Suite]...provided a similar mapping the from the headwaters of the Mississippi to its mouth," slightly strengthens the parallels, for it means that both you and Grofe were leading people serially along that geographic course.

Anyway, thank you so much for your example and your willingness to go back and forth about it. Would you mind if I used it on my website? I am eager to find examples of CMPEs that come from outside my circle of friends and colleagues. So this is definitely, as you say, a case of one hand washing the other.

Robert

What I found particularly interesting about this exchange was that the CMPE model fit this man's experience so well that it allowed me, at a number of points, to suggest certain things that were later verified. For example, at the beginning I said to Charles that if he would "delve more deeply" into his CMPEs, he might find more than just confirmation. That turned out to be the case, as his CMPE was drawing out the nature of his role as leader of the Trail Riders.

I also suggested that "there could well be a few more parallels." Subsequent information from Charles yielded at least two more parallels:

7) He is leading others serially along this route

8) He is leading them with a baton-like rod

Of course, most striking of all is that the interpretation ended up being so apt. It turned out that Charles was quite an unusual bicycle group leader, one who was very much like a musical composer/conductor. He composed annual complex and comprehensive Ride Books, which were "thematic in content, mapping place to place, parallel to the thematic content in the music that provided a similar mapping the from the headwaters of the Mississippi to its mouth." Also, the pennant on his bike, which was mounted on a baton-like rod, had a function very much like a conductor's baton in leading his group of cyclists. Finally, he reported that, later that year, his group did have the very kind aesthetic experience the CMPE seemed to be pointing to.

What I like about this CMPE is that here we have someone from completely outside my circle of friends and colleagues (from which almost all of my CMPEs have been drawn) and yet the model not only fit his CMPE, it was able to illuminate it in ways that went beyond the information I had. Even Charles seemed struck by this, as he prefaced the sharing of one of his confirmatory stories with the phrase "unknown to you."

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Robert Perry Robert Perry offers individual sign consultations to those who feel they may have experienced a CMPE of their own. For more information click here.

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