Uncertainty: Riding the Waves

This week, I began teaching the fourth session of my 12-week program, Become Your Own Business Adviser. And, since the program is all about working with the powers of wholeness and subtle energy to create a vision and make it happen in the “real” world, I’ve been thinking deeply about the process of creation.

My friend, Jonathan Fields, has written a book – aptly titled Uncertainty — about how people handle the risks and challenges of living creatively.

How do we continue to grow, continue to innovate, when each new creation requires us to make the arduous journey through uncertainty, risk and the fear of (sometimes very public) failure?

You know the feeling: Your business is running smoothly; your life is (astonishingly!) frictionless. And, something in your heart urges you to explore – over there!

See that? That Thing that flew by — a blur of light and promise?

Yes, that.

But it’s got nothing to do with my business, you say. It’s a diversion – nice idea, but not for me. Not now. It’s too expensive/outrageous/unheard-of/out of reach.

And yet, it won’t leave you alone. It catches you at odd hours of the day. Late at night — when your vigilantly rational mind has finally entered the cave of sleep – the Thing swoops into your dreams, a blur of light and color. It croons seductively in your ear.

A week or a month or a year later, you and your business are flying through whitewater rapids. Caught between breathless excitement and fear, exhilaration and uncertainty.

You don’t know if you’ve just committed to the greatest thing since quinoa bagels, or if you’re hurtling towards the demise of your reputation, your business, your financial safety and your family’s security.

The good news is: Everyone who leaves the shore enters the rapids sooner or later. If you are committed to living creatively, you learn to make friends with uncertainty. You learn how to navigate the rocks and shoals, the wild whitewater rapids, your own fear and nausea. You learn to ride the waves.

You construct a boat that carries you – safely, reliably – through to the far shore. Even when you can’t see it, and have only a dim sense of what it might look like or where it might be.

You construct a boat out of daily practices, creative and spiritual exercises that help you stay grounded and centered, flexible and present, no matter what.

A boat that embraces both the exhilaration and the fear, using them to help you navigate the river.

Jonathan is a marvelous storyteller. He knows a lot of interesting, creative people who have taken big risks, and emerged into a life more vivid and juicy than any they had imagined. He shares their stories with heart and humor.

His book describes the perils and pitfalls of the journey, the pivotal moments that determine its success or failure.

Uncertainty offers inspiration, guidance, hope, and practical wisdom.

Read it. You’ll be glad you did.

(This is NOT an affiliate link. I just love Jonathan’s book, and want you to know about it.)

I’d love to hear your own stories of times when you’ve risked your known world to create something new. Times when you’ve entered the river and made it to the other side. What supports you? What challenges you? What wisdom do you want to share, about the passage through?