There is something I have been working on for a few years; I am calling it 'the associate model' for now.

This might not be novel, but I don't think its productive to worry about that as it does not need to be novel, it is just something I designed with my own ideas and experience.

I will not yet describe the mechanics, only the philosophy. I would love to get your feedback on it; it is not mature enough to attain feedback at scale but I wish to take it to that level within months.

Disclaimer: People only explore a limited number of actual human relationships and complexities thereof in their lifetime. The multi-faceted nature of logical or emotional relationships also have time and experiences as factors. They can also nest i.e. you and another person can jointly enter a relationship with a third party - this then introduces a whole new dynamic of the 'self', which would now be a construct of two distinct individuals. For this reason, not every person will understand every relationship, therefore would not be suitable to comment or advise regarding the relationship in question. For the same reason, I can only explain what I am trying to achieve, to a subset of human beings i.e. those who have adequate time and experience of the relationships that will be discussed and possibly manifested by virtue of my endeavour.

An associate is a very flexible relationship by its standard meaning. This is at the heart of the meaning that I intend. We grow up thinking the closest relationships in life are parents, siblings, family, friends. In our academic or professional careers, we come across so many more types of relationships such as teacher student, mentor mentee, even sponsor or advocate. As social creatures, we can have very complex relationships, some of which can result in so much complexity that the relationship can exist and not exist at the same time (in the way one would describe it).

With all these possible complexities in mind, I would like to define what an associate is, and what it is not.

An associate, has your benefit as their primary intention. They have associated with you purely for that purpose; that they believe they can benefit you and they would consider their intentions fulfilled if they benefit you.

An associate is often a longer term engagement, wherein associates come to know one another on multiple levels because it is the way they can achieve the highest level of synergy and understanding between them. The notion of knowing what one is trying to say, just by their silence, yet entirely in the professional context. The fact that you can spend enough time with them, to experience their deliberate silence, and the varying ways in which it manifests for them to reach different states of mind and focus levels. They would even trust you to be in the room whilst they meditate.

An associate is all the positive elements of a conventional friend, but not the riff-raff that can emerge from friendships that take a wrong turn, or stop turning altogether. That is to say, that a prolonged silence without explanation can harm friendships, put them in confusion or diminish them with time, but it does not phase an associate. Their trust in one another is high, and their understanding of one another is so high that if the association is approaching an end, the awareness is completely and accurately mutual.

An associate is an associate by choice, therefore it does not resemble familial links that are largely circumstancial.

An associate is conscious of the fact that there are other means through which their associate can attain the same benefits, that they themselves wish to offer or facilitate. For that reason, there is never a regret that they were not present or able to partake in any particular experience or event. Every presence is a plus. Every absence consists of positive wishes.

An associate completely accepts that they are replaceable, and that the universe can replace them with someone better. For the same reason, an associate's notion of having peaked as an individual in their life, career, skill or aptitude, is entirely relative and not an absolute judgement of themselves. They hold a self-awareness of how transient even their own opinions can be.

The most authentic relationship is that between souls, not physical vessels. Relationships that transcend biology and the world they were born in. The world is not required to persist them because the energy they create is an occupant of the greater timeline of the universe, and their deeds transcend the universe itself. Science is well aware that it can never prove that which cannot be conceived or believed, because it is only after those two things that it is then achieved.

An associate draws strength from their soul to then seize control and development of the education that their heart and mind are subject to. An associate's decisions are made in the greater context of the short lifespan of their soul.

Therefore, these are not business associates, or any associates limited to the worldly realm. These are associates in mission, who can attain a unified cathexis for that mission, which produces a free energy, the type that would power a perpetual motion machine. The type, that does not yet exist in science because science can account for the body but not the energy of the soul.

Aminur Rahman, 2020-03-23