Shifting our frames

The correct response to uncertainty is mythmaking. It always was. Not punditry, allegory, or mandate, but mythmaking. The creation of stories. We are tuned to do so, right down to our bones. The bewilderment, vivacity, and downright slog of life requires it. And such emerging art forms are not to cure or even resolve uncertainty but to deepen into... See more

And although many of the experts who speak in this manner – relegating the sensuous world to a kind of secondary or derivative status – are avowed atheists, and although they will rail passionately against the creationists and any others who they think are caught up in a superstitious worldview, this approach that privileges abstract dimensions,... See more

It’s true that we roll up our sleeves and help you dig yourself out if you’ve ended up under a literal pile. But to really effectively organize, it’s generally necessary to change your relationship with Stuff. To do this, some people need to excavate painful memories, face difficult truths about relationships, question the amount of time they... See more

What if we reframed “living with uncertainty” to “navigating mystery”? There’s more energy in that phrase.

There may be no perfect frame waiting to be found but, argues the cognitive linguist George Lakoff, it is absolutely essential to have a compelling alternative frame if the old one is ever to be debunked. Simply rebutting the dominant frame will, ironically, only serve to reinforce it. And without an alternative to offer, there is little chance of

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