The story of “why 108” for One Golden Thread
Let me preface all this with I am not a numerologist. I do not geek out on astrological mapping. And yet, one number kept showing up in my life, tap tap tapping me on the shoulder for ten years, until I was forced to finally listen in 2016.
I’m Jeff Scult, the author of One Golden Thread.
Here’s a 108 back story.
And if you’d like to first learn how prolifically the number 108 connects elements of our universe, culture and human being, start here.
The first moment I became aware of the number 108 was in the fall of 2008 reading an email from a Unicorn of a man — social impact do-gooder Robert Bengsten. I was working with him on his human kind endeavor — The Inspiration Campaign. From the first moment the number echoed, I felt a kinship to it. At that point in my training wheel’s mindfulness, it just sounded cool to say. I infused in my business repertoire that day, introducing myself on a cold call to share the opportunity of my business endeavor Solstice, “Hi, this is Jeff Scult, do you have 108 seconds?” The person on the other end of the cold call chuckled, saying “very clever” and yes, I do have 108 seconds, and no one ever said no after that.
My curiosity led to a google search which revealed a shockingly robust wiki. Did you know:
The distance between the Earth and sun is 108 times the diameter of the sun. There are 108 pressure points in the human body. There are 108 stitches on a baseball. That there are 108 sacred sites throughout India, a place I loved traveling for a month in 1997 with my sister. There there are 108 sacred Meridian pressure points of the body. I recently learned the toll free support phone number in India is 108.
Not a hint of dogma or judgement. I dug it.
But at that stage of my personal development 2008, nothing trumped the fact that it was just a cool number with flowing visual symmetry.
The universe clearly wanted me to listen — tap tap tap — so 108 started showing itself to me in tangible and surprising incarnations over the coming years, including a hotel room key “108” for a special night late in 2015 as I considered leaving my unfulfilled business partnership to enter the unknown journey my heart was calling.
Tap tap tap.
A crucible series of moments at the top of 2016 birthed what was to become One Golden Thread.
I began to kick around the idea of a grounding symbology for One Golden Thread, understanding from both teachers and my branding background the grounded power of symbols to express. It occupied waking thoughts, and I was forcing it.
THE 108 EPIPHANY
I awoke one random Wednesday in February 2016, hit with this flow consciousness during my sleep:
One Golden Threads’s symbology was the number that had been tapping my mind for 10 years — 108.
108 is One Golden Thread, is us.
In the still darkness of my room that Wednesday, I scrawled this into a notepad:
1 — SELF
0 — COMMUNITY
8 — PLANET
108 = One Golden Thread = me / we
Because what I had come to experience in my own life is that when I longed to belong through community — the 0 — first, or do big things for the planet — 8 — first, it never worked. I felt aloneliness inside my self. And I felt drained.
In that morning moment, I was figuring it out that I had no authority to “try” to impact any one, or anything. By starting with my 1 first, my unity within community was natural and seamless, and my impact on the planet could become organic through inspiration, rather than forcing anything.
In that morning moment, the thought formed as to why being an Activist was such a struggle for so many of “trying” and falling. It was always so forced, white knuckle clutching something before you get it. Always feeling like it is slipping through your fingers. To move to a new language, a new definition, from an Activate to a PROactivist, is about beginning from within. The 1. Both sustainable, and boundless, to create a stronger link of connection (the 0), and that is when things can stick as infinite.
In that moment, 108 became the source code for One Golden Thread. To ground it elemental, not esoteric, real, not etherial.
The current of the jetstream increased. Synchronicity fired fast.
The birth of a symbol
Dear friend Elana Meta, introduced me to her then new man, Seth Bunting. We immediately hit it off at The Butcher’s Daughter as two deep-end divers of thought. He was a part of Empact Labs in Venice Beach, a team of visual alchemists I was invited to share the vision of One Golden Thread with. We all met two days later. They immediately felt a part of the message, and went to work to create an icon to represent One Golden Thread. I was focused on ideas around 108. While they presented a broad exploration,
were playing with their sneak peak into Android Jones’ Augmented Reality visual AWE-some play den. Conversation turned to One Golden Thread as we all lay on their daybed in their creative room zen den. Pitcher went to his desk and pulled out a pink post-it note and began to draw an amplification of designer Kris Kish’s favorite design, and helped me visualize what would happen if the symbol was brought to 3-D life.
Pitcher says, “See here, if you spin the “1” the infinity circle spins as two hearts connected. And if you turn on its side and spin, it actually flies as a metaphor for we are our own butterfly effect. Also, if you look at the 108 long enough, it also becomes OGT — One Golden Thread.”
I was speechless.
Empact had pulled off a design miracle, transmuting a deep vision into a sacred symbol, encapsulating everything that I had envisioned — that infinite possibilities and unity all starts with one, you.
They didn’t even know the extent to which the additional symbolism of the butterfly effect had in my life. (A powerful forthcoming Golden Gem).
But how to bring it life? Have it be 4-D?
It took less than one week, and “there are no coincidences” to be introduced by a master people weaver, Lee Rosenblatt, to Maor Cohen, an design alchemist and a gift of positivity for the planet….
The synchronicity continues...
Learn more with us at One Golden Thread…
Epilogue
Not that I needed more validation, but then this happened in the Fall of 2016. The Chicago Cubs were my first baseball team as I grew up in Phoenix where we didn’t have one. The Cubs played spring training and always played on WGN which was picked up on Phoenix TV.
Sports are an analogy for life. There is perhaps not a more powerful analogy of “suffering” then the original lovable losers — the Cubs, who before 2016 had the longest non-winning streak in the history of sport. In 2016 they reversed the curse to win the World Series after the longest separation in sports history — 108 years. Where they won in the 10th inning with 8 runs. 108.
C’mon.
Thanks for the anvil drop, Universe.
