When we don’t look too closely, our lives seem to have a certain structure and order.

We would say we are headed in directions that we have chosen for ourselves.

If circumstances are favorable, we may seem to be making progress.

But when we look more closely, we realize that our minds are mostly jumping here and there, pulled one way by our desires, pushed another way by our fears or our emotions.

We realize that we are constantly being thrown off balance.

It may be very confusing and disorienting, because things seem much more chaotic than we thought.

Our attempts to impose order are really just a story we tell ourselves.

And if we develop our ability to observe what is going on, the story may no longer be very convincing.

It seems more accurate to say that our lives are a chaotic whirl—even if that’s a story too. 

Dimensions of Mind