Waking into unknown

What if one day, you wake up into unknown…

Today, we all wake up into knowing. The knowledge humanity accumulated over its existence tells us how things work on different levels, guides us what to do in different situations, advices how to act/choose/behave/decide, enables us to predict what is likely to happen. We take pride in knowing, remembering and learning from our past and we are able to foresee our future.

You wake up in the morning and know what to do, where to go first and where to go second, you know what you planned for the day or what ‘usually’ happens on a day like today. You clean your teeth, take a shower, look outside and decide what to wear, you spend a day at work and go for a dinner with a friend. You read a bit of your favorite book in the evening and set up alarm for tomorrow. Or any other version of this story, some with less similiraties than others, depending on where you were born, who you are, where you live and how your life looks like. But all have one thing in common, they are largely about ‘knowing’ what will happen and a bit of chaos is a useful distraction.

Now take this story and apply it to humanity. Our lives are based on knowing. We have interpretations of our past which we call history. We have answers to many of our questions (through physical or virtual resources) and we are seeking answers to others, all coming from a paradigm that there is an answer available if we think/research about it long enough. We know enough about our systems, nature, environment, society and science to be comfortable with where we are, we realize that different people know different amount of things but it is a function of learning more or less, everything is predictable. Our education, the way we work and our life choices is based on rational and emotional reflection about how things were, are and will be… We are certain/comfortable or at least have faith that the sun will come up tomorrow, that sometimes it rains and sometimes it is sunny, that there are/are not appropriate resources for us to live on day by day. We are confident that whatever will happen we will manage in one way of another and that any change in our life conditions, however different, will sooner or later be addressed and accomodated.

That is the ‘known’…

Now imagine one day you wake up into unknown. Everything around you is moving and changing so quickly that you are not able to consistenly apply any wisdom you have acquired during your life. The traditional authorities (friends, government, scientists, colleagues, spiritual guides, internet, etc.) that you were used to go to with your questions are silent or confused. Things that before took years to gradually progress now take minutes, even seconds. Systems and cultural beliefs/values/principles that you have been relying on for all of your life suddenly appear questionable and unstable. You try to analyze what is the best option, yet the territory is so unfamiliar and unmapped that it proves to be impossible to come with a reliable answer to the questions running through your head at a speed of light…

Now imagine this is not happening only to you, it is happening to all of us at the same time. For each one of us in our own way, similar feeling is present. Feeling of confusion, not knowing, feeling of walking on unchartered grounds beyond familiar frontiers for the first time in human history… What will you do? How will you decide what is important for you and people around? How will you know what needs to be done to ensure safety/well-being/progress and satisfaction? How will you know what is important? How should we all function/coordinate/co-exsit? What is helpful/unhelpful for you, all of us, all life?

How do the birds know where to fly? How do the beavers know where and how to build a dam? How do the trees know where and how to grow? How do the ants/bees/dolphins/all life know what to do?

I believe if the time of unknown comes, we all need to stop and listen. Listen to the force that is a cause of all life, force that can be a guide if we choose to listen to it. Some call it intuition, some call it feeling, some call it god, some call it 6th sense and many other names. I believe it is the same force that guides everything around us that is alive. Yet with us it has a potential to be magnified by our conscious presence and intelligence. It is at the intersection of knowing and not knowing where powerful prototypes of our future will be formed, able to deal with and respond to virtually any degree of change around us. It is at the intersection of wisdom and absolute openness where new answers will emmerge. It is through a combination of child-like curiosity, naivity and playfullness with the reason, experience and wiseness of our past and present that we will find a way forward…

That could be the next evolutionary challenge for all of us…