I was speaking with a client the other day about a big change in his life. He has entered a period of great uncertainty. A more precise way of saying this might be that he’s aware of a great deal of uncertainty in his life. Whether or not we notice it, life is always uncertain. This is a truth most of us shy away from. We equate certainty with security, and most of us would probably rather believe the factors in our lives that matter to us have certainty built into them.
What sprang to mind for me when he talked about this was how dependably uncertainty generates creativity. If you think back to some of the most uncertain times in your life, you may notice these times correspond with an increased level of creativity from you.
In other words, you responded by being even more creative than usual.
Think of uncertainty as a sort of vacuum. A vacuum doesn’t represent stasis; it’s a sign that change is happening. It’s a level of air pressure unequal to what surrounds it. And the pressure always wants to equalize itself. (Where do you think wind comes from?)
When the wind of uncertainty blows, the breeze it creates is a sense of not knowing, and “I don’t know” is the ideal place to start when we’re creating something. You can think of this state as a clean, beautiful, blank sheet of paper, unpolluted by markings of any kind.
When I started this blog a few minutes go, my screen was blank. I had a vague idea of what wanted to be written, and I was excited to see what would be created. Though it may seem strange, I’ve come to really enjoy this sense of not knowing what will take form when I sit down to write.
What I’m sure about is this: something is always waiting to take form and come to life. I’ve learned to trust this completely, so the anxious thinking that used to accompany the start of a new project has been replaced by a wonderful sense of anticipation. It’s this feeling that allows what wants to be born, to be born.
A sense of “I don’t know” isn’t a threat; it’s your friend. It’s an invitation for something that has never existed to come into existence. And just think: you get to be the midwife to what wants to come to life!
Remember, every action you undertake, no matter how small or large, how important or unimportant it may seem, is an action of creation. Ask yourself this: Is what I’m about to create most likely to emerge if I’m curious and excited about meeting it, or is it more likely to emerge if I’m worried about the result?
There’s one more question you might want to ask yourself. Which of the two sounds more fun? Being curious? Or being worried?
