Beauty Prompt: Befriending Uncertainty 😱
What if there is no problem?
Dear Beautiful Friends,
Here’s a Beauty prompt, intent on expanding our capacity around the topic of
UNCERTAINTY & NOT KNOWING 😈
Maybe you, like me, can make uncertainty & not-knowing a problem.
This problem might come in as a sea change. One moment you’re whistling dixie in the relative contentedness of your work and life, when OUT OF NOWHERE a ROGUE WAVE knocks you over. And there you are, naked and alone on a merciless shore, getting pounded by a set of existential questions that seem never-ending:
So I’ve done THAT. Now what?
Why can’t I make up my mind what I want to DO?
I must figure out the purpose of life, what my soul really wants.
Where to start, and how?
What’s going to happen to this crazy world??
Nothing sparks joy these days. Where are my sparkles!?!?
These are some gnarly problems to solve! Ow.
The pain of uncertainty and not-knowing feels real: you might spot it in the full-body angst clench, the belly butterflies, insomnia, a wandering mind, chewed cuticles, ten extra pounds, empty beer bottles, more exercise than a professional undertakes daily.
Fair enough, we’re not going to force change or negotiate judgment. Let’s high-five the human experience and go to the edges, consider what else could be true, or truer. Let’s raise our curiosity antenna and notice what’s going on.
Consider the following buffet of questions. You can write to them or carry them around in your back pocket and see what kind of fresh thinking gets initiated.
7 Reflections on the Problem With Uncertainty and Not-Knowing
What if there is no “problem” with uncertainty and not knowing?
What IS a “problem” after all?
A conceptual problem is thought-created, it’s a product of the mind, and conditional thinking (that “not knowing” is undesirable in our society). The most real problems exist in the concrete world with solutions underway, like: straightening a tangle in a necklace, editing an email for clarity, coming up with a list job contacts. Problems are fun when you’re engaged with solving them—impersonally, neutrally, even rigorously.
As for “uncertainty”—what is “uncertainty” other than a made-up idea—that, or the foundation of LIVING?
When we don’t experience “uncertainty” (i.e., having a sense of security) this too is mind-created. We are assuming things will occur and be experienced a certain way. Um . . . you see it too, right?
What if the “problem” around not-knowing and uncertainty is that we make it a problem?
What if modern society saw uncertainty and not knowing as THE most exciting way to experience life? Imagine this conversation:
Me: “What are you going to do next?”
You: “I don’t know!”
Me: “Oh really? You’re sooo lucky. I’m so envious. Right now I do know. I’m so bummed.”
These reflective prompts are invitations to fresh thinking. Read each question. Don’t try to “understand” anything. Then return and read each one again slowly. Out loud, even. Which question/idea stands out? Which one makes you mad, or super curious? Take that one out with you for the week and play with us. Drop your discoveries or thoughts in the comments.
Remember: The very same body of water that creates this…
… is also this:
Share your findings, thoughts, discoveries, fresh thoughts, and resistances in comments.
Join us for the last of August’s Playful Writing Salon sessions:
August 29
9 - 10 am PDT
Register here, on Zoom
The theme will be: Make the process an adventure
If you’re a writer experiencing a bit of creator’s fatigue; you flirt with beginning or returning to a writing practice, or you just want to have some creative fun, this one’s for you!
Reflective Prompts -- Suggestions for Use:
Read each question. Don’t try to “understand” anything. Then return and read each one again slowly. Out loud, even. Which question/idea stands out? Which one makes you mad, or super curious? Take that one out with you for the week and play with us. Drop your discoveries or thoughts in the comments.