We all instantly recognize the fundamental
nature of chaos in our lives. The archetypal creation myth posits that
all originates in Chaos. We all "get it," intuitively.
But generally we are enculturated to fear chaos, to hold it at bay through
so-called "control." Chaos is a very personal experience.
We relate to it viscerally as well as emotionally and intellectually.
When chaos intrudes on our lives, we feel pain, and defend against that pain
with fear, rather than embracing the chaotic dynamic.
In psychology, we have had the idea that we
need a "strong ego," that we need a stable structure in order to
function and cope. But nothing exists in complete order or complete
randomness. We live in a chaotic universe. When we are "far
from equilibrium" change becomes inevitable. Like a bifurcation
point in chaos theory, the old system either falls apart or emerges with a
higher degree of order. Our bifurcations state changes are personal
crossroads, decision points, initiated by perturbations of our systems.
Chaos theory applied to experiential
psychotherapy shows us we actually need to cooperate with chaotic dynamics, to
enter a less-rigid process of flow, submitting outworn aspects of the ego to
dissolution, which increases our adaptability, helping us evolve. The phase
space of non-linear dynamics is analogous to psychic space--our psychophysical
construct of our experience of reality.
Iona Miller
