Handling uncertainty

This blog isn’t generally focused on current events, unless they’re tech based. That’s all converging right now though and it’s a time of absolute uncertainty for so many around the world.

We don’t know what’s going to happen next. It’s not guaranteed to be all rosy. It’s also not guaranteed to collapse. Somewhere in the middle is the likely scenario, but again with not having a sense of the future we just can’t know.

So what do we do?

I’m just old enough to remember the Twin Towers falling. Though I was born before the fall of the Soviet Union, and have brief memories of seeing George Bush Sr. on television, I can’t say that I actually remember those events. 9/11 was my moment where everything shifted. I went from childhood to something else that day. I was 13, and the entire world changed.

Then again in 2008, my cofounders and I were a year into a new startup, with initial funding security, and working toward a goal amongst the greatest uncertainty our generation had faced.

COVID was the same. I was scared, uncertain, and felt the sky could fall. But in the back of my mind I knew I’d been through some version of it before.

Now we’re facing an open field where we just don’t know which direction we’ll go. Just in my lifetime many massive events have come and gone, with results worse than expected on the one hand, and better than we thought on the other.

Mix all that in with artifical intelligence, and a complete gutting and reshaping of the tech industry, along with the daily shifts in tarrifs—and well, it’s an unnerving time.

In a way I’ve prepared myself for some version of this. Last fall I expected uncertainty and turmoil and pain for people I cared about. That’s part of the reason I pulled myself from social media for what’s now been the longest period of absense since I joined MySpace.

Now that the scary things are starting to happen I’ve gone through the stages of grief and have come to the question of what should be done about it.

Here’s where I’ve landed on how individuals can handle this. It’s not meant to be prescriptive, but it’s how I’m coping.

First, I have to disconnect at times. I cannot pay attention at all moments, tracking every shift in news and politics. It’s too much. I’ll check in occasionally, sometimes throughout the week, but not on a moment by moment basis. I did that for years and it wore me down to the point I could focus on nothing else. It’s not that those things aren’t important, but rather that I’m only capable of so much mental energy toward the news before I’m worn out.

Second, I look for restoration opportunities. Connecting with loved ones, getting into nature, listening fiction—both the great ones and the trashy ones‚ washing the dishes, finding ways to just be and feel restored.

Third, I get busy. Sometimes that means diving into my work to try and solve problems, tinkering on hobbies, learning new skills, and generally just trying to improve what I have to give more options later.

None of these are foolproof. We’re only human. We get sick, worn down, have our good days and bad. But ultimately we need to find those grounding moments to come back to why we’re on this big round ball. Focusing on what’s happening thousands of miles away, to the exclusion of what’s around us, causes more anxiety than we can handle.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t care, shouldn’t get involved. But paying attention for its own sake merely turns us into the hollowest version of ourselves.

If you’re reading this try to touch grass. I know I’ll be doing that later, if only for a bit.