Navigating the Cycle of Order, Disorder, and Reorder

Photo Courtesy of: Aaron Bergen via Unsplash

I was reading Richard Rohr’s latest book, The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage, and he speaks about the journey of life being a cycle of order, disorder, and reorder. I was amazed by the simple complexity of this perspective. What do I mean by simple complexity? Well, if we take a few minutes to step back to see the cycle of life we all go through in this world, we can see this cycle play out in various ways, and yet when we are in the midst of disorder, we often get thrown into a space where working with the disorder seems like a monumental task and we are blind to seeing the ultimate reorder that is to come. 

Order is our comfort zone. We get into comfort zones within our own lives, within our families, and within our communities in ways that keep us safe, but often limit our ability to grow into our best selves. That comfort zone, and clinging to order can keep us fixed in habits, activities, and rituals while forgetting the all important reason behind what we are doing. We get into almost a mechanical and automatic way of living life, so when disorder creeps in, our comfort zone crumbles and our automatic reactions tend to come through in ways that further disrupt our lives. 

Disorder comes to shake us awake. I can’t tell you how many times disorder has entered into my life to shake me awake, to grow into ever deepening realizations of who I am and how I want to show up in life. Disorder shines a light on the ways I’m sleepwalking through automatic reactions, responses, and ways of relating with myself and those around me. Every time disorder has arrived, it has shaken my whole understanding of life in ways that have challenged my ability to keep up with life. I have been forced by the circumstances surrounding me to find a strength beyond myself, and to muster energy I didn’t think I had to get through my responsibilities to maintain the basic needs of life. Beyond getting through my responsibilities, however, was the more important task of moving into a stage of reorder. 

What was I to do with the disorder that came upon me? How do I move forward from a destructive marriage? How do I revamp my life in light of existential crises? What is really true for me beyond what the external world has thrown at me? Who am I beyond the labels of “too sensitive, too much, too emotional?” How do I reclaim the pieces of myself that are steady and unchanging as I recognize the depth of disorder in trying to please others? What will happen if I choose to shed the masks and embrace my authenticity? 

These are the questions that have consistently led to greater depths of reordering my life through every circumstance that came in as a challenger and disruptor to the status quo, to the unmet expectations of how life should be, and to the ways I was creating my own disorder through learned behaviors that were present to protect me from pain. The necessity of reordering cannot be under-stated. If we choose to retreat from the deep and transformative lessons held in the stage of disorder, we will miss the opportunity to discover our greatest capacity to live fully, completely, and meaningfully for ourselves and for the world around us while being deeply connected to our higher power, that force that is far greater than ourselves. 

Every time I have been able to take disorder and revamp my own inner landscape, I have found a new space of reorder which is filled with more depths of understanding, wisdom, resilience, strength, peace, and joy. This is the gift of choosing to upgrade when disorder strikes. It is said that our eternal nature is filled with knowledge, curiosity, and bliss. When we approach disorder with curiosity, then knowledge is sure to find its way into our hearts so that we can heal, transform, and grow. 

When I look back on the key catalysts of disorder throughout my life, I can’t help but fall into an internal peace, joy, and pure amazement at who I have become because of what I have not only survived, but what I have learned and integrated along the way. Recognizing that I was never truly alone, and that I was being guided by a companion who offered me the strength, wisdom, and determination to seek out higher truth, greater authenticity, and my deepest purpose in this life continues to leave me with humble gratitude for the love pouring over me in my darkest of moments. It was this inconceivable loving presence that offered me space to breathe, a light within the cracks so that I could see my next step of reordering, and courage to keep striving for something beyond what this world was throwing at me. 

Disorder brings with it the depths of sadness, anger, rage, and despair. When we enter into reordering our lives with wisdom leading the way, growth, joy, contentment, love, bliss, and compassion are the fruits of this inner work. Deeply feeling the pain of the disordering process without automatically reverting to fleeing or fighting against what is is the greatest challenge in moving from the emotions of disorder to the freedom that comes in the reordering. It takes work, effort, and determination, but knowing we are not travelling alone and recognizing these recurring cycles can support us in approaching the necessary disruptions of life with greater clarity, self-compassion, and understanding of the process leading the way. 

In what ways have you seen the fruits of reordering from the disorder life has thrown at you? How can you reframe current disorder to move you a little closer to reordering and reconnecting with your deepest self?