Thursday, June 21, 2012

Talk back

For the moment, the best way to respond to me is either on the facebook where many of you read this blog or by sending me an email. I have enabled the comments section but it does not appear at the bottom of the post. This is not ideal because you all can't talk to one another but if a great discussion threatens to break out I'll ask your permission to cut and paste your responses to me right here on the blog. And if I ever figure out how to outsmart this system, the comment box will be back. (It is on old posts but something changed and it has gone bye-bye.)

So, talk back at epfam@aol.com Or respond to my facebook post at Jan Erickson on facebook.

Thanks, and my apologies for the inconvenience.

Jan

Chaos Theory in limits

Not all chaos continues.

Or should.

I wrote the book on boundaries, for heaven's sake. Chaos has to resolve.

There are cars that seem not to understand that traffic lanes are meant to be used. And that turn signals, traffic signals, merge signs and other directions are meant to be followed.

Chaos in traffic is, well, chaos. And dangerous. I was reminded of this just moments after posting yesterday's blog and I thought, what was I thinking! Of course, chaos has its limits.

Boundaries are there for our safety. Order -- to to a point -- is a guide that keeps us human really beings moving alongside one another without crashing.

Surprise is one thing, and it does crack us open to new possibilities. But you won't get me to say that unlimited chaos, in daily life, is a good thing.

My days go better, are more productive when I impose some order, some expectation on them. I am writing now because I have a commitment to writing in the mornings.

What I do argue for is being open. My phone just rang. An unexpected offer to write a guest blog once a month. Too much order would have closed me off from even answering the phone.

Some of us have a higher tolerance for chaos than others. If yours is low, honor your own needs. If you run a magazine that has weekly firm deadlines, well, you're stuck. But I still say, always leave a squige of room for the unexpected to sneak in.

Chaos, at least in theory, is a good thing. That's how the light gets in!