Apr 29, 2020
Can I get an order of chaos please?
Been listening to a lot of Jordan Peterson recently.
Currently, I’m listening to the audiobook, 12 Rules for Life.
So far it’s a good listen.
One of the concepts that he keeps touching on is chaos in life. This is very interesting because at least for me, my family and I have been trying to stamp out the chaos in most of my life.
Anything that would be deemed a little chaotic would be eradicated. And my parents being who they are, took this too far.
So this really limited me to explore my teenage years as much as I wanted to. And the worst part about all this was I carried this fear of the chaos into my twenties.
Trying to keep things perfect.
Trying to keep my grades perfect.
Trying to keep my good guy persona perfect.
I ended up living a few dissatisfying years into my twenties. I did not allow chaos into my life at all because I thought it was destructive.
If I could go back in time, I would tell naive Bulcha that having chaos in life is okay when moderated. Living a life of order is wrong when it’s on the extreme end. The same with chaos, where living a life of extreme chaos is wrong.
Life is all about balance.
I remember reading an axiom about how wisdom can be summed up as one word: moderation.
Which is spot on.
If we all took some time to reflect on our lives, we would see that a lot of shit where we messed up was because we did not respect the rule of moderation.
This could have been due to focusing on grades too much and missing out on a fun college experience. Or chasing girls too much and not building a life you thoroughly enjoy.
The extremes are where sorrow is in life.
To build a life that is enjoyable, you need the balance of chaos and order.
And for a lot of people, their biggest problem is that they’re living life on the extreme end of order. This leads to being risk-averse, not willing to meet new people, not trying new things, and just not seeking variety at all.
So if you’re too order-focused in life, you’ll need to start embracing the chaos. Without chaos, there wouldn’t be art, spontaneous road trips, love, and the spiciness of life.
So my fellow nerds, start spicing up the bland flavor of life and learn to embrace chaos and order in a balanced way.
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