Living with Uncertainty: Finding Grace in the Well of the Unknown

August 9, 2024

Sophie Strand writes, "The only thing I am certain of right now is that I am constituted by a generous uncertainty. An uncertainty that gestates miracles I could never have expected or authored. Relationships sprout there, in the connective tissue between opposing ideas, that would never have grown in the relationally sterile bounds of a well-defended belief."

We do not know the future. It is a defining truth of the human predicament. If we were to know the future, we would be completely different animals. Where does this truth leave us. The answer is uncertainty. Living with uncertainty can be challenging, sometimes excruciatingly hard. Ironically, uncertainty is one of the few things of which we can be certain. Uncertainty can leave us feeling anxious, afraid, or depressed, but it also presents an opportunity to cultivate resilience and resourcefulness.

How do we discover the potential within the unknown? It begins by developing new encounters within ourselves: relaxing into the support of existence and freeing ourselves from reactive tendencies or outdated perceptions of safety and truth. Yes, I know, this is not easy. However, we can find richness in uncertainty when we relinquish our adherence to rigid definitions and belief patterns. In the process, we encounter a new tension—where what causes us fear or pain can shift and re-emerge as an occasion for creative resolution. With attuned, embodied inquiry, we can gently and slowly allow ourselves to be with our wider context while also allowing momentary presence to unfold. Even amidst turbulence, we can discover a deeper awareness and an embodied state of being.

When we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory, when possible, may we remember to turn towards our embodied resources. This might involve taking deep breaths, tuning into our senses, or simply connecting with our physical surroundings. By grounding ourselves in the present moment, we can create space to encounter the still unknown with curiosity. In this evolving space we discover the possibilities that arrive when our fears and respective narratives soften. As we interact with a larger field of intelligence… like the sounds calling, the sights appearing, breath expressing or the sensations of touch…. we discover possibilities born from an alchemy that would never occur under the inertia of pre-existing patterns.

There is always more to be with, to attune to. Joining with the relational field increases the flow and fluidity of life. We are not separate but part of the larger whole. As we engage with the undulating mystery of fluid movement, we expand our consciousness and generate new capacities to greet uncertainty, hence perceiving new possibilities outside of past conditioning.

“Try to love the questions themselves,” the poet Rainer Maria Rilke advised. “The point is to live everything. Live the question now.”

Questions, unlike answers, are relational. They involve another person, another landscape, another being.

Continuum practices build an intimate relationship with the vast potential of the body as well as a relational intimacy with all that is alive. We invigorate our inner waters, increasing the choreography of relationship with-in and beyond. Fluid resonance is larger than our personal histories, patterns and beliefs. In Continuum we encourage/invite the awakening to sense/feel the biological matrix of spirals and the fascial fabric of tensegrity. We offer sounds, breaths, images and fluid movements, opening to space and receiving support. As we enter an inquiry into the biological expressions, the world of sensations, the movement from within, we enter discovery. This moment-to-moment unfolding is a creative revealing which occurs prior to knowing. I am not acting with volition, not clinging to habituated beliefs or emotions, but rather opening to the evolution of discovery beyond my recognizable perimeter.

“Paradox is where enlightenment is born—it’s not about resolving or conquering paradox by choosing one side; rather, it’s in the tension of more than one truth being true that a new wisdom arises.” Kai Cheng Thom.

The more we accept and embrace the paradox in uncertainty with open inquiry, the more we engage in a conversation with the future. I am not advocating that we bypass deep fear, suffering, and broken hearts.  I am suggesting an inquiry, an embodied practice of finding/ sensing/feeling the possibilities that can be realized when we embrace uncertainty with a renewed reverence to the mystery.

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