This is a wonderful blog article. I referenced the central idea taken from Ursula Le Guin on last week’s episode of Midfaith Crisis – that the opposite of uncertainty is death; that it is only uncertainty which brings life:
“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.”
I hate uncertainty. I don’t like being out of my comfort zone. I do like regularity. And as my mental health has become more fragile, I have spent a lot of the past few years trying – and failing – to make my life as predictable and safe as possible. The irony is that, in doing so, I am actually denying possibilities. I am denying life.
I don’t mean we shouldn’t try to protect ourselves. Insurance policies, health and risk management, safety devices, home comforts, safe spaces - all good things. But you cannot make a perfect seal. And the danger is simply that, by seeking certainty, you miss out on the unexpected.
And the gifts of uncertainty are manifold: discovery, courage, inventiveness, resilience, attention. As Le Guin wrote:
“If we knew what was to come, we would have no need for sensemaking, no need to be alert to what’s around us, no need to ever open our eyes and ears and arms to each other.”