Let Go.

 

Uncertainty Breeds Creativity

“If uncertainty is unacceptable to you, it turns into fear. If it is perfectly acceptable, it turns into increased aliveness, alertness and creativity.”

Eckhart Tolle

          As I have aged, I’ve come to believe more and more that life is all about learning to let go. I have a young man, PT Assistant, who is coming to my home several times a week while I regain the ability to ambulate. He’s in his early 30’s and originally from Columbia but has been in the States since he was eight. He’s a National Guardsman who deployed to Iraq for the year of 2010, and now is in the reserves. He has three little children, the oldest of whom is 3. Uncertainty is his daily bread. I’m sure with things heating up in Ukraine, he’s in a state of high alert, but still he’s going about his business, being cheerful and happy, helping folks to walk again, and being a port in the storm for older folks like me.

          Living in uncertainty is the way life is—no one knows what happens next. Night before last, I dreamed of being in a big arena; seats and tables stacked row upon row, like the great hall at the United Nations. Delegates were gathered at each level to try to come up with solutions to our problems. Each time I looked into the room, fewer and fewer delegates were there. Finally, the third time I peeped in, only about ten of the delegates were scattered about. I stepped into the room and sat down beside a woman delegate who, by her clothing, looked to be from India or Pakistan. I asked: “What’s going on? Why is the room so empty?” She gazed about, seeing some of the members crying, and said to me, “They don’t know what to do. We came here to find solutions to the world’s problems, and we just don’t know what to do.” It was a chilling dream—when the world’s leaders don’t know what to do—can’t even agree on what the problem truly is, then we’re in trouble.

          We have a choice here—we can do what we usually do when our backs are against the wall—we can start a war—or we can let people with new ideas try a different approach. There are still people on this planet who are brand new, not burnt out, and not jaded. Their ideas may sound unusual to our ears, but they might just work.

          Uncertainty breeds creativity if we can keep fear out of the mix. If we don’t succumb to hand wringing and wailing, we can allow the creative juices, which we share with the Divine Creator, get busy digging us out of the current mess we’re in. I’d vote for that!

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane