The mechanistic view promised us lives of continual progress. Since we were in control and engineering it all, we believe that we could pull ourselves straight uphill. But life doesn't work that way. No rebirth is possible without moving through a dark passage. Dark times are normal to life; there is nothing wrong with us when we periodically plunge into the abyss (Wheatley, 2006).
The journey to newness is filled with the black potholes of chaos. It might be terrifying when the world we so carefully held together dissolves. We don't like feeling lost and emptied of meaning. We would prefer an easier path to transformation. But even as we experience the demands as unreasonable we know we are in partnership with great creative forces. We know that chaos is a necessary place to dwell occasionally (Wheatley, 2006). So, we have learned to sit with these dark moments-confused, overwhelmed, only faintly trusting that new insight will appear. This might be the only route to new ways of being.
The more we contenmplate these times, when we truly are giving birth to a new world view, the more we realize that our culture is presently journeying through chaos. As the old ways are dissolving we must engage with one another differently, as explorers and discoverers. No single person or school of thought has the answer as what we need is far beyond isolated answers. We can turn to one another as our best hope for inventing and discovering the worlds we are seeking. Thanks to the proliferation of Web 2.0 technologies we can make this discovery collaboratively and much easier.
We can no longer wait expectantly for the right solution as we are each required to begin our individual journeys. We do need to be sharing what we find. From each other, we need to learn what is possible. Another's success encourages is to continue our own search for a fulfilled life.
