Being certain about uncertainty

This short essay by Mandy Brown has 777 words. (I counted… OK, Microsoft Word did.) I’m lucky it was brought to my attention by one of the many newsletters I try to read each week/month. (I wish I could remember which one… )

The essay is about dealing with uncertainty. And how uncertainty is the only thing that makes life possible.

Our awareness of life, of its great variety and beauty and possibility, emerges out of uncertainty. Awareness, that sense of being awake to the world, is necessary only because we live in uncertainty. 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.

This is, perhaps, the great paradox of modern technologies: in a world without uncertainty, we would need only be aware of our screens—nothing else would matter. But in the deeply uncertain world we do live in, we cling to those screens because they promise the one thing we can never have.

We want answers, but life delivers questions. Ms. Brown’s advice at the end of the essay makes a ton of sense:

1. Take small steps.
2. Be ready to shift directions.
3. Anticipate surprise.
4. Trust in creativity.
5. Go with friends.

Our power is not measured in weapons or cash but in humans; our power is with and through each other. 

Life may be uncertain, but I’m certain about that!