In 1977 Ilya Prigogene was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in the field of Thermodynamics. The second law of thermodynamics states when things are left alone in our universe, it will eventually go to disorder and chaos. For example, when a tree falls in the forest, it will eventually rot and decay. Over time it will go into more and more disorder – chaos. Studies show however, that nature eventually actually creates order from the chaos. Prigogene found that as you increase the energy or pressure beyond the capacity of the object’s ability to hold that pressure (threshold), the object begins to vibrate to the point it cannot take it anymore. Then something amazing happens – it evolves into a more complex structure than before.
Let’s go back to the tree: it falls in the forest, is covered by soil and decays. With the pressure of the earth, over time, the tree turns to coal. If pressure is continually added over time, the coal turns to diamond, a structure many times stronger to withstand the pressure. This process is irreversible, totally unpredictable and the outcome is unrecognisable from the original state.
Humans are subject to stress and problems – they are part of life. Often people go to great lengths to avoid, deny or distract themselves from the pressure. However, allowing yourself the permission to embrace the challenges and the hardships means there is growth and liberation on the other side of the disorder and chaos.
In nature when pressure is added (perturbation) and the organism starts to evolve, it releases energy usually in the form of heat. When pressure is placed on humans, the energy released is in the form of emotions. These are often feelings such as fear, anger, frustration etc. If we do not allow the emotion to release, the growth is stunted and the process of natural evolution is halted.
The old adage what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger is true. The phrase, ‘no pain, no gain’ also has meaning here. If you want your students to evolve, you must add pressure within a supportive environment. As teachers, we must acknowledge emotion coming up, as a sign of disorder and chaos occurring and hold the pressure firmly with kindness and understanding for transformation to occur.Celia Lashlie, international best seller and storyteller, talks about holding boundaries tight to allow for lessons to be learned.
Many times while in the emotional state it is challenging to see the lesson to be learned. Trust in this process and it will become clearer in time. Steve Jobs, from Apple, once said, “You cannot connect the dots by looking forward, you can only connect them looking back.” Have you ever noticed whenever you have successfully overcome a major challenge? Other hardships don’t seem so tough anymore. You have transformed and evolved into someone with a higher threshold for stress.
Twentieth century philosopher, Buckminister Fuller, has been quoted as saying, “You will never be given a task that you cannot handle.” He is also quoted as saying, “Your reward in life for learning the lesson is a bigger lesson.”
Embrace ‘perturbation’ in your life and classroom. Be strong enough to hold the boundaries for others and allow the emotion to help transform learning for all.
Published on Thursday, May 8th, 2014, under Transformational Learning