The Reign of Chaos

One of the first puns I remember understanding was from the sixties television show Get

Smart, wherein the bad guys were known as KAOS. Even as a child, the amusing moniker

made sense to me. If obeying laws and keeping order allowed society to grow and prosper,

then KAOS, by breaking laws and creating disorder, caused confusion and unpredictability.

Apparently there was later a Netflix show called KAOS. Loving Greek Mythology as I do, I’m

sorry I missed it. To the Ancient Greeks, Chaos was a sort of time or place outside of the

known and familiar. That chasm or gaping void created by the separation of Earth and Sky

was thought to be located somewhere below Earth but above Tartarus, a place of eternal

torment and suffering.

The Greeks believed this space, Chaos was the primordial void from which all of creation

emerged. Similarly, the Hebrew creation stories found in Genesis, speak of the spirit of God

moving above the water, displacing the earlier “watery chaos” (tohu), or formlessness and

disorder present before creation. Through God’s creative acts, God brings order and structure to the cosmos.

Today we speak of chaos as complete disorder or confusion and a lack of structure. I am not a fan.

I think we can all picture situations in which too many actors demand our attention at the

same moment. A barking dog, a ringing phone, a pan boiling over on the stove. In situations

where too many things are happening at once, I tend to get irritable or shut down. The

uncertainty and sensory overload cause me to retreat from the world and look for comfort in narrower confines.

What I seek in those moments is control. Order. Peace.

But the natural order is disorder. That perfectly aligned and weeded path through your

perfectly manicured lawn will quickly revert to a riotous messy overgrowth if not constantly

maintained.

Hungarian-American business man Andy Grove believed innovation thrives in strategic

chaos, saying, “Let chaos reign, then rein in chaos.” By allowing a period of exploration

(disorder) before implementing structure and control, new ideas flourish. We should not stifle creativity by imposing too much order too early.

Although I can’t speak to the effectiveness of this belief in the business world, I believe it to be true in education and in writing.

When I write, I have a vague idea in mind. I have to explore that idea with further research

and additional writing before I discover my path. I cannot force an order, an outline of ideas

before I begin writing. I marvel at those who can, but I am continually surprised by the

serendipity of unplanned connections which, seemingly randomly, spring up in my own work.

Many, many times, as I’m writing a scene, little droplets from an article I just read or a

childhood memory or a family story sprinkle down, bringing the scene to life. I did not plan for those connections, nor could I have predicted the other ideas which shower forth, but my mind recognized them, sparking some intricate connection that just works.

For that, I am eternally grateful and say, “let chaos ‘rain’”.