complexity

    There are few who would genuinely recognise Complexity if she showed up; and yet many claim to know her intimately.  It’s true that Complexity has a reputation for being exotic and elusive, and those who become familiar with her sometimes make their fortune.  However, she has also been snubbed for being too flamboyant, unpredictable and more than a little difficult to manage.   She is not known to be tidy.

    Some fear that Complexity might be a disruptive influence on the impressionable or the ill prepared.  The common perception is that she leaves a trail of chaos in her wake, and she is said to have been spotted often around warzones, boardrooms and markets.  It certainly seems that her voice is loudest in a mob, even though it isn’t always clear what she has to say until much later and in quieter moments.

    Although Complexity does visit dizzying, glamorous places, from the inner orbits of atoms to Alpha Centauri, you might run into her just about anywhere.  Complexity also frequents the most ordinary of habitats: beaches, anthills, kindergartens, clouds, the dreams of harried mothers.   Curiosity and Wonder -- friends who know her well -- suggest that she tends to be so involved in whatever she is doing that sometimes she disappears from sight.  Then Complexity can remain invisible or appear drab and ordinary for years before bursting again onto the scene. Somehow, we always manage to be caught unawares.

    You can tell the resemblance between Complexity and her twin brother, Truth.  While they have very different personalities, both are concerned with things as they are, not what we might wish them to be.  While Truth commands the respect of great men and high minded leaders, Complexity demonstrates that even the smallest actions can shape the future.  It is a matter of seeing how one thing connects with another, in ways that we might not have realised.  

    Complexity is exhausting to be around.   It is not as if she offers stability, comfort, quick answers or the certainty of progress.  Of all who have courted her over the years, only Vision manages to keep up with her restlessness.  In her presence, he has come to appreciate the value of difference, and the gift of surprise.  Walking through her Garden of the New, he learns how simple rules can lead to the most dramatic and unexpected outcomes.  Every seed carries within it the dream and blueprint of the whole.  

    Despite Complexity's many demands, Vision embraces her fully.  For as long as she exists, the world will never want for mystery.


18 February 2009   02:49 hours
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