Lifechain: the Potential–Focus–Actual Schema (v1, 2025)
A model of the Ecological Actualism Framework
by Oliver Ding
October 22, 2025
In 2023, I revisited the Lifesystem Framework (v1.0) and expanded its “Life Coordinate” part by adopting the Attach — Container — Detach Flow and the Subject — Potential — Object Focus. See the diagram below.
I used the basic model of the Ecological Practice approach for the Horizontal Tendency.
If we repeat the basic model above, we see a Lifeflow, which is the short name of a metaphor “Life as a continuous flow.”
I used “continuous flow” as a metaphor to describe Life and Experience. This metaphor is inspired by William James’ metaphor of “Stream of Thought.”
James used a group of metaphors around the notion of “Stream of Thought.” According to Jeffrey V. Osowski, the following other metaphors or images were part of the stream family (1989, p.132): train, chain, path, current (both water and electric), channel, line (with segments), procession, kaleidoscope, and fabric. “By using these metaphors, James was able to capture the concepts of continuity, constant change, direction, connectedness, pace, rhythm, and flow, all of which were important characteristics of thought or consciousness.”
James used the stream metaphor to reject the British empiricists’ view of consciousness, which used metaphors like “chain” or “train”. According to James:
“Consciousness, then, does not appear to itself chopped up in bits. Such words as “chain” or “train” do not describe it fitly as it presents itself in the first instance. It is nothing jointed; it flows. A “river” or a “stream” are the metaphors by which it is most naturally described. In talking of it hereafter let us call it the stream of thought, of consciousness or of subjective life. (vol. 1, p.239)
James emphasized Subjective Life, and I adopted this metaphor and directly used Life as a continuous flow to describe a person’s subjective experience of life. You can’t use a knife to cut a stream; you can only contain it within a container.
Water doesn’t have a form, which also means a structure, but the container has a form. The form of our experience is perceived as an interaction between our immediate actions and ecological situations — physical environments and social environments. Since a container has its boundary, then we have experience of Entering and Exiting. For instance, if life itself is viewed as a large container, entering represents birth, and exiting represents death. Birth and death can also be considered smaller life events, with their primary containers being the womb and the tomb, respectively.
The concept of a Container draws on George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s conceptual metaphor of containment and image schemas. However, I have expanded this metaphor into a theoretical concept for the Ecological Practice approach, introducing Attach and Detach to describe related experiences and meanings.
For life development, I emphasize the significance of “Attaching something to containers” and “Detaching something from containers” — a notion not included in Lakoff and Johnson’s original ideas such as the conceptual metaphor Container and image schema Containment. By incorporating this expansion, life becomes not just a spiritual journey but also a material and social activity. In other words, mind and matter are not separable.
More details can be found in:
I use Lifechain to describe the Vertical Tendency of the Life Coordinate. It interprets the chain of actions within the Ecological Practice approach, emphasizing the transformation between Potential (action opportunities) and Actual (actions) in the Subject — Object relationship. Moreover, I also used “Focus” to describe “Thing” within this framework, forming the “Potential — Focus — Actual” schema (see the diagam below).
The Potential–Focus–Actual Schema describes a dynamic cycle within the Subject–Object relationship, explaining how potential possibilities of action become actualized through focus and reflection.
Potential refers to the open field of opportunities for a person to act with a particular thing — a horizon of possible interactions between Subject and Object. When the Subject perceives, multiple potentials emerge, each representing a different way of engaging with the thing.
Focus designates the specific thing the person is currently acting upon — the center that organizes both perception and action. From the field of potential, the Subject selects one or several possibilities to engage with, transforming potential into actuality through concrete actions.
Actual refers to realized actions — what the person has actually done with the thing. Once an action occurs, the Subject observes its outcome and reflects upon it. Through reflection, the Subject reconsiders previous choices and reorients perception, thus opening new potentials for future action.
This ongoing movement — perceive, select, act, reflect — forms a continuous cycle of transformation between potential and actual. It expresses the rhythmic structure of human actions: how potential becomes actual, and how the actual, in turn, expands potential.
Situated within the broader framework of the Life Coordinate, this schema corresponds to the vertical tendency described as Lifechain.
The diagram above expands the Potential — Focus — Actual Schema to the basic model of lifechain. In this model, the triad Actual–Outcome–Objective describes how realized actions generate results, impacts, and alignments that sustain the developmental flow of activity.
Actual → Outcome (Generate)
When an action occurs, it produces certain results — tangible or intangible changes in the situation. This transition from Actual to Outcome represents how doing leads to becoming, how acts generate effects that extend beyond the moment of action.
Outcome → Actual (Impact)
Every outcome, in turn, exerts an impact on both the environment and the subject. Through these impacts, the situation evolves, and the subject’s conditions for future action are reshaped. What was once an effect becomes part of the new field of potential acts.
Outcome → Objective (Align)
Through reflection, the subject interprets the outcomes and seeks to align them with intended objectives. Alignment involves evaluating whether the realized results correspond to the guiding aims, thus bridging what is achieved with what is desired.
Objective → Outcome (Anticipate)
Before action occurs, objectives serve to anticipate possible outcomes. Anticipation frames expectations, shaping how the subject envisions the effects of action and prepares for their realization.
Finally, we see a cyclic rhythm within the lifechain:
Focus → Perceive → Select → Act → Reflect → Generate → Impact → Align → Anticipate → Outcome
This cyclical sequence illustrates the reflexive continuity between action, result, and intention. Each phase transforms the Subject–Object relationship — actions generate results, results reshape environments, outcomes prompt alignment with objectives, and objectives anticipate new outcomes.
v1.0 - October 22, 2025 - 1,075 words