How embracing Negative Capability can release us from becoming paralyzed by overwhem
I tend to create a lot of activity in my life. This is both a blessing and a curse. I enjoy having many things going on at any given time. Activity and action are the stuff of life and I love life! Carpe Diem!
I imagine many of you reading this right now can relate; you may have a personality that enjoys activity and being involved in many things. The challenge is that busy-ness does not always equal productivity — or even fun, for that matter. Left unchecked, we may suddenly find ourselves in a state of paralyzing overwhelm.
And who wants to be paralyzed by anything?
This topic — the insidious nature of the beast we call Overwhelm — has come up a lot lately, and as Stever Robbins points out, it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.
Overwhelm is a funny thing (and I don’t mean the funny-ha-ha variety). It seems to grab you when you least expect it and in the most inconvenient of times. The tendency is to shut down. I think it’s a sort of self-defense – the “flight” part of our reactionary “fight-or-flight” mechanism.
My partner, Chad, introduced me to this odd expression “Negative Capability.” What in the world is that, you say? The expression seems contradictory, since “capability” connotes something positive and “negative” means, well, something negative.
Much has been written about what Keats meant, and I won’t bore you to tears here about all of it (not that’s it boring; it’s just that much of it is not relevant), but somewhere I read (I unfortunately cannot recall where) that “capability” doesn’t always mean “able to do something.” It has the same root as “capacity” or “space.”
If Keats meant Negative Space, then it becomes clear what he was saying. To illustrate the point, I think of an empty cup. Though empty, it still contains space – negative space. The same can be said of negative space in art, the area around and not including the subject of the art.
Looking back at his letter, Keats tells us exactly what he means: “when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason.” In other words, rather than be consumed by overwhelm, a “Man (or woman) of Achievement” allows space for the “uncertainties” of life.
What a relief when we let go of the need to be right or to be in control all the time! Sometimes we are busy “reaching after fact & reason” (“Why does this always happen to me?”) that we miss out on the untold gifts that come our way if only we embrace that which confuses and overwhelms us. It just makes sense that being in the state of not knowing is needed for learning to take place. If you know everything already, you can’t learn anything.
Of course, Keats was a poet and was referring to ‘amazing men’ of poetry. However, by extension, it appears that Keats is saying that we should embrace the “uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts” — the overwhelm — because it is in the moment of highest frustration that we find ourselves on the brink of an amazing breakthrough.
Or, said another way, confusion, doubts and uncertainty are prerequisites to creativity. Creation and creativity is borne out of confusion.
Rather than worrying and asking ourselves unproductive questions, like “Why is this happening to me?” or “How will I ever get all this done?,” how much more empowering is it is allow room for Negative Capability to work its magic on us!
Very well written post. I think another way of looking at it is just plain trusting. Trusting that you may not understand what is going on but all is well.
Things are not going the way you want it to but you trust that somehow it is perfect.
It helps shape us. It helps us breathe and take in things we are missing.
It also allows for spiritual energy to influence our circumstances.
I enjoyed this.
Iyabo Asani
http://www.AuthenticChangeCoach.com
[Reply]
tshombe Reply:
July 8th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
@Iyabo,
Thank you so much for taking a moment to read the article and comment!
Doesn’t it feel great to relax and, as you say, trust that everything’s A-OK? It sure makes life more enjoyable and exacting, knowing that everything’s exactly as it should be and more fabulous things are on the way to us.
I appreciate you, Iyabo, and am grateful for your comments here. I just discovered your comment, as it was mistakenly filtered out as SPAM.
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