Is This Chaos an Opening?

It is hard to make sense of the intensity our world is experiencing now. I tend to look at it in terms of polarity. One side overcoming the other. Could it be we are all in this together?

What we Are Experiencing

To some of us, the world seems out of control. So much is foreign to our past experiences. We are not sure how to respond to what is happening without polarity. “They” are wrong. “They” are ruining our country. “They “are being forced to redress past wrongs. “They” are crazy. We have a lot to worry about. We are living in dangerous times. The world we knew is falling apart.

This all brings up our fears. Without question the world is changing. The chaos and danger are real. It is a chaotic, not a peaceful or smooth process. People are in opposition. There is a lack of trust. The future is unknown. Institutions could fall. Principles and values we have had for centuries are threatened. Some welcome change as they feel wronged by the past. Others fear change and the unknowns before us.

When the foundation of our outer lives is unstable, it may feel particularly harrowing if our inner life is not developed enough to give us a refuge when we need it. Those around us are feeling it too, no matter what “side” they are on. Talk and concern is almost constant. There is a desire to know what is happening and will happen. But we don’t know and that is not a comfortable state for us.

Chrysalis

We have used Chrysalis before in this blog to understand what we are experiencing. In Chrysalis, the caterpillar leaves its ordinary world. (We certainly have done that!) It creates a new world by spinning a cocoon. Going in, the caterpillar has no idea what is about to concur. The transformation and chaos it experiences within the cocoon is mighty.

The caterpillar begins to die to what it was. It does not give up easily and spends significant energy trying preserve the life it once had and to survive. But the caterpillar cells do die – it is nature’s course. The energy given off by the dying caterpillar cells stays within the cocoon and begins to form imaginal cells which have the potential to form the butterfly.

For quite a while, it is chaos within the cocoon. The transformation is underway. There is a “soup” of caterpillar cells, imaginal cells, death, birth and change. It must be disconcerting and unsettling. What’s coming is uncertain (the imaginal cells must reach a tipping point for the butterfly to have a chance to form). Then, that tipping point is reached and the butterfly begins its process of rebirth.