Tag Archives: Uncertainty

What If Uncertainty Is Really Possibility?

By Nicole Christie, Principal + Creative Director of NICO, Inc. and Friend of Simple Intentions


No matter what we want to believe, nothing is ever certain, nailed down, or set in stone. Nearly half the population is divorced. Job security is non-existent (if it was ever a thing anyway). And let’s not even get into technology, our economy, or the climate.

Ah, the times—they’re always a-changin’.

Yet we all want stability, certainty, answers. We want a crystal ball to tell us when our misery will stop, when the good times will start, when we’ll get what we’re after. But even in those moments when something finally arrives, there’s still uncertainty, worry, and fear. When will the other shoe drop? What now? What’s next?

Oh, friends. We’re never satisfied.

So we have no choice but to snuggle up with uncertainty and use it to our advantage. Instead of seeing it as a dust cloud, we can see it as possibility. As long as something has yet to happen, anything can happen. In the meantime, we can keep our eyes open and entertain other options. Instead of staring at a closed door, we’re free to roam the hallways, wandering into other rooms and knocking on different doors. The roaming is often far more enlightening—and definitely more fun. (“Hey, there’s wine and cheese hour down the hall!”)

That’s what we stumble on during times of uncertainty—if we let ourselves stumble. We avail ourselves to new information, new experiences, potentially a whole new life. One we wouldn’t have known was a possibility had we not aimlessly wandered and roamed. So let’s walk past the closed door, the one we believe has certainty behind it. We can always come back later. In the meantime, let’s keep our minds open. And help ourselves to the wine and cheese.