the nagging power of uncertainties
I wrote the title of this offering to the blogosphere without knowing quite what I meant by this particular sequence of words. Both of my countries, the country of my birth and the country where I live, are undergoing elections this year, one sooner than the other. While the outcome of one of these (the UK election) seems at the moment to be relatively clear, he said not wanting to tempt fate, the outcome of the other (the US election) seems anything but certain.
This uncertainty is hard to bear sometimes. It’s the weight on the shoulders, the tight twitching muscle in the lower back, the running shadow glimpsed out of the corner of the eye.
So where is the power of uncertainty? Sometimes, uncertainty can be the inspiration to action; this very much in evidence in the US at the moment. Money is being raised. Articles are being written. Talking heads on various television networks prognosticate and punditize. There are dangers to this nagging by uncertainty; it is hard to remain calm; to carefully, forensically pull apart policies and positions on issues. Loud voices, clamoring for action in the face of various disasters, rise above the quiet chaos of churning uncertainty, and it is hard to find a true path through.
So what are the enemies, the opposites of uncertainty. Certainty can lead to complacency, and complacency is so often the shackles around the ankles of action. I’m reminded of the writings of Carlos Castaneda and the quest to become a person of knowledge. If memory serves, the second enemy (after fear) is clarity. One can become blinded with seeing the world as it is, and not continue along the path.
The world as it is. This is a bit of a sudden left turn into an elsewhere, but it is difficult these days to stare the world in the face, to see the world as it is. The world is (and has always been) a complicated place, but the seeming clarity that the world wore in the early 1990s has now well and truly shown its true self.
Uncertainty reigns, and it is hard to navigate this particular uncertainty. This is not an uncertainty that nags one to action, but rather an uncertainty that erodes and corrodes, and it’s hard to see how to steer our ship. But steer we must. So I’ll watch the news and I’ll continue to read, and I’ll choose my direction of travel. Perhaps we’ll meet along the way.
multijimbo 