Chaos Is an Opening

I am not ready for the chaos this new year seems to promise. What good can come of it?

IT’S  CHALLENGING TO SEE CHAOS THIS WAY

Chaos unnerves us. It swirls around us, seemingly with no logical pattern. It rearranges and upsets the elements of our lives. It stings sometimes and pushes us around. It is disorderly and we lose our sense of control over our lives. Chaos creates confusion. The current fires in Los Angeles are upending lives – people have lost everything and have nowhere to go. Next steps are hard to envision with chaos so present.

Societal norms pretend to protect us from chaos. They work for a while, but chaos slips through – it’s inevitable. And when it does, we are unprepared. We are told we are safe. The unknown is not recognized. Everything’s set. We can take comfort that we are taken care of and all will be well. Then, the unknown shows its face. Chaos comes in on a strong wind. We are unprepared to deal with it.

How can we see chaos as an Opening?  Let’s look at the elements of chaos. Chaos is unpredictable –this presents opportunity. Chaos unnerves us.  There is no model to follow. However, when things shake us up, new aspects of ourselves, that we didn’t know existed, show up and we employ them. Chaos sometimes ushers out the old and we have a new, fresh space to fill. We can innovate and use our creativity.

Science and Chaos

Science has had a strong focus on chaos -it exists and it matters. Chaos is a key part of our ecosystem. Its presence and importance are acknowledged and accepted.

Science has developed a theory about chaos.  Chaos theory  is an interdisciplinary area of scientific study and a branch of mathematics It focuses on underlying patterns and deterministic laws of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions. These were once thought to have completely random states of disorder and irregularities. Chaos theory states that within the apparent randomness of haoticc complex systems, there are underlying patterns, interconnection, constant feedback loops, repetition, self-similarity, fractals and self-organization. (Wikipedia) Chaos has a purpose and is an integral part of our ecological and astronomical systems.

Nature is full of chaos – weather patterns, the flow of fluids (hard to predict), the behavior of plants and animals in response to the environment around them, population dynamics and the behavior of ecosystems.

Navigating Chaos

In Greek mythology, chaos is often defined as a primordial void or the initial state of existence from which all things emerge. It is a concept that encompasses both disorder and the potential for creation. The dual nature of chaos signifies its role as both a destructive force and a catalyst for new beginnings. (reference)  As we learn to navigate chaos, we can look at it in this manner as well. Disorder, which is unsettling, and the potential for creation exist side-by-side in the midst of chaos.

To start, we must recognize the existence of chaos in our world. Our lives are not predictable, wrapped up in a red bow. Disorder, chaos and change are often present. Best that we find effective ways to accept this and handle them effectively. How might we do that? Key is acknowledgement and acceptance of the prevalence of the unknown in our lives. We cannot predict or count on life going the way we have planned.

Once we do this, we must find ways to deal with chaos. This doesn’t mean we have to love it, but that we know how to navigate it and use it to our advantage.