“Don’t be afraid to be confused. Try to remain permanently confused. Anything is possible. Stay open, forever, so open it hurts, and then open up some more, until the day you die, world without end, amen.”
―George Saunders
How do you embrace confusion?
How do you embrace confusion?
I would rephrase the first sentence to read: “Don’t be afraid of uncertainty or the unknown.” Confusion suggests a negative state of being “lost” or “caught up in a mess of choices”. Uncertainty acknowledges the beautiful and terrifying mystery of which we are a part. It invites us to stand in humility, awe and wonder of all we do not know. Uncertainty allows us to be in the midst of the unknown and trust that even our small efforts to do good, to reach out and forge stronger connections are a part of a great unfolding.
I have a very hard time embracing confusion. Even small amounts of chaos, such as the turmoil of a crowd, tend to cause panic attacks. However, I do enjoy learning that requires facing the unknown, even if only to bring more order to it eventually.
I really don’t trust any message, story or religion that promises “all the answers.” I majored in history in college and I prefer to accept that I can’t ever know the full story on most things. God is the Mystery we are all trying to figure out. I don’t trust anything that tries to tell me otherwise.
I had to stop and think about “confusion” for a minute. My first thought was that it was negative, but I allowed pictures of confusion to flash through my thoughts. I saw myself standing in a the middle of a new group of people and wondering where to begin interacting. I remembered exiting a subway onto a very busy street filled with colors, movements, noises, cars, buses, people, pigeons and even a few dogs. I remembered entering a second hand bookstore with high shelves, narrow isles and only the most rudimentary categorization. In all of these, my initial reaction was confusion, but it quickly moved to the question, “Where shall I begin?” If I enter with a specific purpose, seeking a path is a quick, purposeful way out of the confusion. But if I come to explore, it doesn’t matter where I begin, only that I do so. With that step I begin to design my own pattern of curiosity, exploration and a rudimentary understanding — all with promises of growth.
I think that you are right Dorothy. You have to expect confusion, and then to have a strategy with which to process that confusion. I believe that the strategy which you have described to be a very good one.