The Secret Power of ChAoS
Copyright ©2001 by Matthew Cross, Leadership Alliance

“Some see things as they are and ask, why? I dream things that never were and ask, why not?”
-George Bernard Shaw, often quoted by Robert F. Kennedy

Has any part of your life been out of balance or overly filled with chaos lately? If so, take heart: I say you are gearing up for a reality that more resembles AND compliments your true self. Sometimes we experience such transitions as uncertainty, fear, pain, loss, hurt, self-doubt, blame, etc. In my workshops around the world, many people have found inspiration in the following theory of the hidden value of chaos. I offer it here for your consideration. One aspect of this interpretation of Chaos Theory elegantly suggests that as our life frequency accelerates, we automatically start attracting those people, places and circumstances that best support our evolution into greater and greater amounts of fulfillment and joy. A common (temporary) side effect: All hell can seem to break loose - spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, etc. At such times, "chaos reigns" - and sometimes pours!

The concept of how we can more consciously navigate chaos became clear to me after researching the brilliant work of Swiss scientist Hans Jenny. Jenny coined the term "Cymatics" to describe the science and study of how sound, vibration, harmonics, and wave phenomena affects and transforms matter. For example, he would film what happened when sand, powder, or semi-liquid clay was subjected to various sound frequencies. The resulting geometric patterns and transitions were both beautiful and mystifying - like witnessing the animation of matter with the dance of life. The one series of experiments Jenny did that triggered the "chaos connection" for me involved sound waves and water. Jenny put a drop of water on one of those glass specimen slides, and placed it under a microscope.

Next, he illuminated the drop by placing a light underneath the slide (creating the "Schlieren effect" - observation of a liquid in light). He then filmed what happened to the water drop through the lens of the microscope as he subjected the drop to increasing frequencies of sound. The intriguing results reveal a powerful metaphor for chaos in our lives. At a steady frequency of, say, 8Hz (8 cycles per second) - imagine a deep, steady hum - a pattern (for example a square) became clearly visible in the water drop. This square would slowly rotate from left to right and back again; yet as long as the sound frequency stayed at a constant 8Hz, the square remained. We might say that the square represented a certain simple "order" - the order of a square.

But when Jenny increased the sound frequency, say from 8Hz to 16Hz, it looked as if someone had thrown a big rock into a calm pond. During the "transition phase" – the second or so it took for the frequency to rise from 8Hz to 16Hz - the square pattern vanished. In its place, the water drop looked like utter and absolute chaos, with no recognizable pattern whatsoever. Yet when the sound frequency stabilized at the new, higher level of 16Hz - imagine now a higher pitched, steady hum - what emerged? The clear pattern of... an octagon - double the complexity of a square! And with each successive doubling of the sound frequency, the resulting pattern would also double in complexity - but only after going through a phase of - you guessed it - "chaos." As the frequency stabilized at each successively higher plateau, the new pattern always reflected what could be called a higher order of beauty and balance. As the frequency approached the upper levels of the human hearing range, the pattern in the water drop began to resemble a thousand-petaled lotus, or an intricate stained-glass window design from some ancient cathedral - richly complex and beautiful, suggesting a divine order of infinite harmony.
To put it another way, chaos is a natural part of the evolutionary process, a transition phase from one state to another of a higher order. The old must fall away in order for the new to arrive. After any period of "chaos," the pieces of our reality always reconfigure into a higher state of being. Look back in your own life for evidence of this principle - when things went from "bad" to "worse," and then to "better than before." What often slows this natural transition process (and prolongs the chaos) is when we get stuck OBSERVING the chaos - by staying too focused on what got us there, or how bad things may seem or feel in the moment. Most of us have become advanced experts at defining and focusing on what we don't want - so we just keep getting more of it! We create the quality of our reality with our thought-feeling-focus, in every moment. By deliberately shifting our focus to what we want, we can compress the natural chaos/transition phase, literally "collapse" time, and accelerate our "arrival" on the other side of chaos.

To expedite the shift into our "new," higher order reality and accelerate through the chaos phase, we need to envision what we truly WANT and desire with all our heart, and regularly imagine, feel, and flow what it would be like if we were actually living our desired reality, beyond the chaos. We must remember our best "future memories" with the same passionate vibrancy with which we can recall our best "past” memories. The key here is to focus on whatever it takes to feel good in this moment - RIGHT NOW, and then hold and flow that feeling, for even 20 seconds at a time. Be sure to involve ALL your senses: See, hear, touch, smell, taste, and sense your ideal scenario(s) with maximum gusto - really go for it! What we regularly "appreciate" (value, give our focus to) "appreciates" in our reality (grows; expands, like a bank's assets). The Universe does not judge the content of our focus - it simply delivers more of whatever it is.

Chaos can be viewed as a learning bridge, or a navigational guide reminding us to focus on something more wonderful than we usually allow ourselves to imagine. Einstein once said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge - I never came upon my discoveries through the process of rational thinking..." It is said that our inner mind does not distinguish between "reality" and what we passionately imagine. By letting our imagination soar through ideal scenarios and feeling them as if they are "real" - in the present tense - we set the stage for miracles in our lives. Remember always that your future is very, very bright - incandescent, actually! We cannot long avoid our own higher order and inner joy. It is our natural state. The next time "chaos" strikes, breathe deeply, remember who you are, and then remember your ideal future: Vividly imagine and savor the most outrageously joyful scenarios you can, for even 20 seconds at a time. The results will simply astound you.

Matthew Cross is President of Leadership Alliance, an international organization providing breakthrough strategies for growth and transformation. He can be reached via the Alliance at Tel. 1.203.322.1456; e-mail: MCross@LeadershipAlliance.com