Integration

Your brain unconsciously creates in-groups and out-groups. 
It does so constantly and implicitly, in a manner that occurs without your awareness unless provoked. 
Based on your coffee preferences you make in-groups; you also make out-groups of decaf drinkers. 


Integrating into any group or team is challenging. 
It activates your social threat and reward filters, it disrupts homeostasis, and it creates uncertainty around in-group and out-group status. 
One thing you can always rely on with the brain: uncertainty is an intolerable state. 


When integrating, attend to where your mind naturally tries to define in/out-groups based on limited data. 
Watch for the emergence of social coping mechanisms that create a feeling of control in the short-term but damage longer-term connection and cohesion. 
Slow down and embrace the energetic demand required to remain curious and abstract despite your desire to make binary distinctions. 



Integrate coffee to your morning and feel inte-GREAT!
- Morning Cup