108 - The Birth of an Icon

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 my soul for ten years, until I was called up to finally listen in 2016.

I’m Jeff Scult, and I've been on a journey.

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. No woo woo, science and facts. Enjoy the read.

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 began as a social experiment and connection movement I formed as a Public Benefit Company called One Golden Thread.

I began to lucid dream around the idea of a grounding symbology for the philosophy of my living, 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 at 3am in February 2016, hit with this flow consciousness during my sleep:

In the still darkness of my room, I scrawled with closed eyes this into a bedside notepad:

1 — SELF

O— COMMUNITY

8 — PLANET

Where I had struggled in my own life is that I had done everything in a reverse order.

I longed to do big things for the planet — 8 — first. I became a community junkie, cared so hard to belong — the O . I never really got back to Self - the 1 in the above scrawl. I would come home like crashing from a sugar high, feeling a sense of aloneliness inside my self. 

In that morning moment, it felt like the clouds parted. By starting with my self first (the 1), I intuitively knew my unity within community would be effortless, organic and seamless, and my impact on the planet would manifest through inspiration, rather than forcing anything.

108 = One Golden Thread = me / we

In that moment, 108 became the source code for my life, and ultimately became expressed through the vessel of One Golden Thread. To ground it elemental, not esoteric, real, not etherial.

The current of the jetstream accelerated. Synchronicity fired fast. In less than 11 days.

The birth of a symbol

Dear friend Elana Meta, introduced me to her then new man, Seth Bunting. We immediately hit it off at Abbot Kinney's 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 channel shared the vision of One Golden Thread. They listened, immediately felt sensing a part of the message, and went to work to create an icon to represent this self, community and planet, sharing it through the connection movement of One Golden Thread.

Late one evening, Pitcher presented a broad exploration, were playing with their sneak peak into Android Jones’ Augmented Reality visual AWE-some play den. Conversation turned to the 108 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 as I was taught by my mother to play and turn things upside down or sideways for different perspectives, I did that here. 

I saw with my jaw open, “Turn on its side, it spins as the Butterfly.” 

I see us each as possessing the transformative nature of the Butterfly Effect. 

Encapsulating everything that I had envisioned — that infinite possibilities and unity all starts with one, you.