“Turbulence is lifeforce.”

Turbulence is life force. It is opportunity. Let’s love turbulence and use it for change.
Ramsay Clark

I did a little research on Ramsay Clark. As far as I can tell he was the Attorney General at the time of the Kennedy assassination. So, living at a time of great optimism and hope as well as social upheaval and political unrest, I guess he might have learned a thing or two about change.

Recently I can across this question from consultant Peggy Holman.

What would it mean to know how to work well with the unprecedented upheaval many of us face today?

In a series of short pieces of writing Peggy raises other questions which she thinks might guide us in a search for clues. I have reproduced some of them here and made some additions of my own.

• How do we disrupt coherence [and certainty] compassionately?
• How do we inquire appreciatively: asking bold questions for possibility?
• How do we engage dissonance [turbulence] creatively?
• How do we jump in [and act when we don't know what will happen]?
• How do we realize novelty and [change] wisely?
• How do we integrate what we know into what’s novel and what’s novel into what we know?
• [Where do we find the resilience and courage to keep doing this again and again?]
• [How do we invite others to walk with us on unknown paths into uncharted futures?]

For me these questions are inspiring. The realisation that we don’t have answers to them is somehow reassuring. There has been so much certainty and we have worked so hard to be rational and coherent.

I find myself strangely comforted by a bit of turbulence!

What response do these questions invoke in you?