Thriving in Chaos
Finding the Cosmos in the Chaos
“Chaos is what we’ve lost touch with. This is why it is given a bad name. It is feared by the dominant archetype of our world, which is Ego, which clenches because its existence is defined in terms of control.” ~ Terence McKenna
Chaos is uncomfortable. You don’t know where you stand or what you should do next. Your thinking relies on the past, the history of your successes, the frameworks you were told worked and the cultural messages of conformity that create the illusion of safety. Individually and collectively we feel lost and shaken.
You may believe that you know what’s next. You may have a “plan” for your life or maybe a direction.
The biggest illusion is that we actually know what’s next.
In the section on death in Anam Cara, poet and former priest John O’Donohue talks about death as the unknown companion that is with us in life. It’s not just death. It’s change.
“No one can say with certainty what is going to happen to us tonight, tomorrow or next week. Time can bring anything to the door of your life…When we look into the future of our lives, we cannot predict what will happen. We can be sure of nothing.” ~ John O’Donohue
Nothing is as certain as uncertainty. You are in the woods and it gets dark here. Storms rise up from nowhere. How will you find your ground when there you stand on groundlessness?
Improvise and Focus on the Essential
Learn to improvise in order to take advantage of the possibilities generated by chaos. Control doesn’t help here. Dancing with what is present is the only course of action. Being intentional, consciously choosing your thoughts, words and actions will provide a sense of calm, direction and focus.
Chaos demands that you focus on the essential — what truly matters. When chaos appears, crises happen and the habits, crutches and ego-centric behaviors of the past no longer work. It’s time to recalibrate to a “new normal” that is more conscious, healthier and serves not only the person but our collective community (all living things).
What are your patterns of thought? What ideas, behaviors or values do you default to when you feel lost?
Who do you have around you that can point out your familiar ground?
What are the things that are essential — as in simple, spiritual even, touchstones — and can you ground yourself in those? A walk on the beach, cradling your child, a prayerful beginning to your day…
Make time for silence.
Applying control can have the opposite effect creating more chaos instead of fluid movement towards new possibilities.
THE EMPTY CUP
Cultivate your wisdom and personal clarity as a priority for unfolding new possibilities (cosmos) when you most need it. Get to know yourself. Be an empty cup, receiving what comes towards you with grace. Build your resiliency in all domains — mind, body, heart and spirit. Recalibrate toward a more harmonious state even if that harmony is with chaos. Resistance will hinder any new possibility to arise.
This is how you find the Cosmos in the Chaos.
It isn’t easy…but you’ll find it is necessary if you want to thrive in any condition and circumstance.
Originally published at https://www.aliciamrodriguez.com on March 12, 2020.
