Order and Chaos
A child is always taught by her parents to be curious, explore the unexplored, face her fears, embrace uncertainty, work hard, be a master of her own life, be compassionate, be brave. But as she grows up, she finds it much too difficult to accomplish her own desires and ambitions, let alone be there for others. She is somewhat forever lost in life to find meaning and balance in whatever the hell she is supposed to find.
As humans we always strive for achieving harmony and stability in our lives. We always like to opt for certainty in our actions because it gives us peace. Otherwise it’s just anxiety and a sense of phobia regarding our future.
These certainties could be, for example, a steady source of income, a house for your family, a car, a good school for your children, a stable marriage, health insurance etc. In short, it is anything and everything that guarantees a predictable and secure future.
This feeling of emotional stability is Order.
Ironically, even if we hate to admit it or necessarily deny in public, but in our lives, as we progress, much of this order seems humdrum. The order in our lives which we so much crave, doesn’t seem to make our lives complete or exciting.
Now, think of the time when you did something as a child which you hid from your parents. Or the time when you skipped school to go watch a movie, the time when you fake signed your report card, your first date or your first kiss, lying about smoking to your parents, sitting for campus placements but getting rejected, getting into a fistfight etc. Some of these may not have been a positive experience, but created a lasting memory nonetheless.
All these above were akin to stepping into an unknown territory. They created feelings of nervousness and excitement at the same time. You did not know what was going to happen because it had either not happened before or you were unsuccessful or unhappy with some similar prior experience. Interestingly, this is also when you become emotionally vulnerable.
This feeling of vulnerability in which we find ourselves is the exact opposite of order.
This is Chaos.
Now if you are wondering what this blog post is about, I would like to clarify that it’s not about importance of one over other. Neither am I glorifying any of these.
Order and chaos are the two necessary elements of life. Like yin and yang. Like male and female. And it is certainly not that order is the positive one and chaos the negative. They both are interchangeable.
For instance, too much order is also not healthy. Take Hitler’s obsession with Aryan race in Germany or the current dictatorial regime in North Korea. This is order in its extreme.
On the other hand, too much chaos leads to anarchy. What is needed, is a healthy balance of both. What our human race is today, what giant feats it has accomplished, it has only been able to because of the presence of both order and chaos.
Let’s go back thousands of years ago to the time of primitive man. Chaos (i.e. looking for the unknown) led to the discovery of fire, invention of wheel, it led man to step out of the cave and explore the world. On the other hand, need for order led to things such as farming, building colonies, and ultimately huge civilisations.
When one starts to overpower the other, the force of nature swiftly increases the other to bring balance.
Our human instinct is to go further and further, albeit step by step. The key is to achieve balance on both feet- one in the boat of order and the other in the boat of chaos.
Don’t be afraid of chaos, go out and explore. Order will come naturally. And don’t just sit idle, otherwise you won’t be prepared for the chaos that may be about to come.
(Inspired by Jordan Peterson’s book 12 rules for life)
