Is a little chaos actually good for us?
On the outside, I think I appear fairly calm and ordered. I suppose I am. I like things to be thoughtful, organised and clear. But there is another side of me too. There is something in me that enjoys creativity, risk and a little bit of chaos. Not destructive chaos, but the kind that wakes you up and makes you pay attention.
I remember discovering this on our first trip to Vietnam. I loved Hanoi. It was crowded, noisy and a little untidy. At the end of the day, rubbish was left in plastic bags on the footpaths. We also stumbled into a night market that was cheek by jowl with people. It was disconcerting, especially as obvious tourists, but everything was fine. We found our way through and made it safely back to the hotel.
And then there were the streets. At first, crossing the road in Vietnamese traffic looked impossible. Motorcycles seemed to come from every direction. But the trick was not to panic. You simply walked steadily in a straight line and allowed the motorcycles to weave around you. I found that strangely stimulating.
My wife experienced it differently. She prefers more order, so Ho Chi Minh City was more to her liking. Bright lights, high-rise bars and good restaurants felt more polished and predictable. Same country. Very different reactions.
That trip helped me recognise something about myself. I need order, but I am also energised by movement and the unexpected. Perhaps that is one reason I am still working in a university college environment at my age. There is always something happening. Young people are leaving home, finding their feet, adjusting to a new city, and often a new country. There is always someone to help, someone to encourage, a problem to solve, a crisis to address. It is not always neat. It is rarely predictable. But it is deeply human.
Perhaps a little chaos is good for us when it wakes us up without overwhelming us. The answer is not always to control everything. Sometimes it is simply to walk steadily in a straight line.
The Afterword 
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