The Great Unknown : Embracing Uncertainty As A Forward State

And so we went from making brilliant plans and living our predictable lives to an unchartered chapter of unknowns. Covid-19 has dealt us all the blow of the unexpected, upending how we go about our days and pausing some aspects of the beauty of the everyday, including group gatherings, social occasions and the familiar comfort and gratification of our work routines. Yet by temporarily taking normalcy from us, this voracious DNA structure has also bestowed the silver lining gift of a reset, reminding us to reprioritize our values, immediacy, family and the power of introspection. 

But perhaps this moment’s greatest lesson lies in the unsettling yet affirming realization of how much we don’t know. Like most of us, as a product of our age of beautiful data models and on-demand intelligence, I feel the need come up with immediate answers regarding what this all means and what a new normal will look like. Alas, I fail.

The truth is that we might be doing ourselves, and those around us, a great disservice by putting all that pressure on knowing all the answers. Instead, we should embrace the humble state of not knowing. While I draw comfort in a humanist view of the world and that we will come out stronger from this, the vast uncertainty of it is daunting in scale, and thus its power. It is a power so vast and whose quality is yet unknown that it merits a moment of ceding and getting lost in it to decipher it and to shape what comes from it.

This humble way of seeing the moment should not be confused with embracing blissful ignorance. We have seen how dangerous that can be, especially when it smugly sits on the highest spheres of power, ignoring science and reason. Instead, now more than ever, we should champion the scientists, journalists and truth seekers, straight shooters, whistle blowers, and urgent storytellers of all stripes. And these same voices will be the first ones to tell us that many a moment of clear conviction begins with the temporary yet timeless state of not knowing.

The first gift of directly facing a state of unknowing is a clear acceptance of the complex nature of things, giving us the freedom and levity to find different answers. While this might create some fears and pressures, if embraced with abandon it can also be a very liberating path to curiosity, the most powerful tool for creativity, innovation, and most importantly, self-realization.

Think of all the wondrous things that came from the unplanned, from the messy unknowns. From Alexander Fleming’s accidental penicillin breakthrough to Leonardo Da Vinci’s sfumato technique as a way of capturing the moving nature of extraordinary times spanning from humanist Renaissance beauty to the deep ravages brought on by the bubonic plague.

A Shakespearean “To be, or not to be,” through this lens, speaks to our current need to make sense of the unknown. And so, we must derive inspiration from contemplating and tackling what is vastly yet ambiguously in front of us.

As we try to envision a better way forward, seek your inner strength and vision by embracing uncertainty, by becoming a student. Push yourself to be a better listener, explore answers by connecting the unexpected and the seemingly contradictory. Explore new ways of thinking, tap into other cultures, study philosophy and the masters who confronted similar moments.

This is also the time to be humble. Don’t seek to be the smartest person in the room for if you are, you might be in the wrong room altogether. Unlock the power of empathy and collaboration. And above everything else, understand your place and role in this moment’s vastness, and use it as an opportunity to find your core, your sense of purpose, and your singular thread of connectivity to the world.

 A moment of self-doubt is an opportunity to connect. And connecting is how we find our way back.