uncertainty

It can be profoundly disturbing and unsettling - deep within our souls - when we look at the world around us and feel as if it is hurtling in a direction that is completely out of sync with who we are in the core of our being.

When our friendships reveal unexpected patterns. When our relationships tilt. When our careers shift. When our social networks steadily (and at times seemingly irrevocably) fray. When we aren't quite certain where we fit. When our home ceases to feel like a refuge and instead becomes a place where we stay. When our health brings forth words we never thought we’d hear. When our visions and dreams seem to be slipping away, and pretending suddenly seems like the only way to survive the swirling winds of the unknown.

Here is when distraction becomes most convenient. When deflection and distancing grow towards their greatest appeal.

Here is where connection is most needed. Yet feared. Because to connect in moments like these requires truth-telling within,

the kind that can transform us at our core,

and takes us further away from what is familiar, pulling us towards the unknown.

It is at these moments, these times, these spaces, that we are most susceptible to believing that it’s just us. We’re the only ones. That we must be alone in our struggle to discover, re-discover, and remind ourselves of who we are - as we push against the pressure to conform to who we are told (or thought) we ought to be.

If this is you, if you can relate to these words, then please know that I'm sharing this note with you today to clearly and directly convey that

you are not alone.

Because sometimes, on some days, that knowledge is the thread we need to hold on

through the unexpected storms that uncertainty brings.

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