Thoughts on a "Perfect Storm"
We have just experienced “Ike”—the Hurricane that blew through Texas and Houston this past weekend. In some ways it is illustrative of the term “the Perfect Storm.” We have all heard the term, and know that it refers to a confluence of events that come together to create a kind of unparalleled chaotic vortex that leaves chaos in its wake.
I’ve been thinking about this storm as a metaphor for what appears to be happening all around us—in many respects what we are experiencing now feels like the approach of a Perfect Storm. Here are the steps: A series of disturbances begin in remote locations—beyond where we live. Those disturbances in the weather come together to create a larger “tropical storm” that materializes in the central latitudes of the world that are most populated. There are always storms forming there, of course, but this disturbance has more energy and collects further energy to itself—it begins to draw on the “warming waters” that are potentially active all around it and the storm “powers up,” as they say.
Feeding on the warm waters of its environment, the disturbance grows in magnitude and then begins to move into other realms, other waters, other regions of the world and spins off bands of chaos. As it grows it sucks in more and more energy, bringing together a mass of concentrated wind and water that spins around itself, moving toward the settled land masses where the normal life of everyday citizens lie in wait as helpless targets in its approaching path. There is an interesting hidden variable as well—steering currents—that are unseen, but determine where it will eventually move. These are currents that are even broader and more global than the storm itself. We can detect them, but they remain indeterminate and almost impossible to measure.
Until it hits, no one knows exactly where it will make “land-fall,” and where the most damage will occur… but the fallout is not just the specific place of landfall, but the huge area around it, where millions of people literally lose power, suffer immense damage, and figuratively lose the “normal” power they have over their own lives in the aftermath. Everything is changed. No one is safe in the wide swath of destruction from the affects of the storm.
So is it truth that what we are seeing now are signs of such a storm on the horizons of our world? If it is, then we are all certainly at points of landfall, and few, if any, of us will be unaffected. The forces of our world appear to be rushing into the power of such chaotic energy. All we can do is to prepare, be alert and vigilant, and when it comes, ride out the storm. We will live for a long time in the aftermath. We will be asked to step into the new roles of rescue, treatment and damage control. The question is, are we ready, or are we doing like so many did this past weekend, dismiss it in a state of willful denial and blindly try to ride out the storm in the belief that somehow we will be safe and there will be no long-term consequences?
I’ve been thinking about this storm as a metaphor for what appears to be happening all around us—in many respects what we are experiencing now feels like the approach of a Perfect Storm. Here are the steps: A series of disturbances begin in remote locations—beyond where we live. Those disturbances in the weather come together to create a larger “tropical storm” that materializes in the central latitudes of the world that are most populated. There are always storms forming there, of course, but this disturbance has more energy and collects further energy to itself—it begins to draw on the “warming waters” that are potentially active all around it and the storm “powers up,” as they say.
Feeding on the warm waters of its environment, the disturbance grows in magnitude and then begins to move into other realms, other waters, other regions of the world and spins off bands of chaos. As it grows it sucks in more and more energy, bringing together a mass of concentrated wind and water that spins around itself, moving toward the settled land masses where the normal life of everyday citizens lie in wait as helpless targets in its approaching path. There is an interesting hidden variable as well—steering currents—that are unseen, but determine where it will eventually move. These are currents that are even broader and more global than the storm itself. We can detect them, but they remain indeterminate and almost impossible to measure.
Until it hits, no one knows exactly where it will make “land-fall,” and where the most damage will occur… but the fallout is not just the specific place of landfall, but the huge area around it, where millions of people literally lose power, suffer immense damage, and figuratively lose the “normal” power they have over their own lives in the aftermath. Everything is changed. No one is safe in the wide swath of destruction from the affects of the storm.
So is it truth that what we are seeing now are signs of such a storm on the horizons of our world? If it is, then we are all certainly at points of landfall, and few, if any, of us will be unaffected. The forces of our world appear to be rushing into the power of such chaotic energy. All we can do is to prepare, be alert and vigilant, and when it comes, ride out the storm. We will live for a long time in the aftermath. We will be asked to step into the new roles of rescue, treatment and damage control. The question is, are we ready, or are we doing like so many did this past weekend, dismiss it in a state of willful denial and blindly try to ride out the storm in the belief that somehow we will be safe and there will be no long-term consequences?
posted by Lynn Bauman at 8:06 AM
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