Being the Ones Who Move
What happens in the critical juncture, and why it matters
2023 is the Year of the Water Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac. A year that is already fulfilling its promise of openings and possibility.
Our beloved Norma Ryuko Kawelokū Wong Roshi spoke to us recently about the meeting place between crisis and opportunity, as we wade into this lunar and calendar year together in the midst of so much personal and collective transformation.
Her words resonated deeply for so many of us, and we wanted to share her wisdom here with you. As she reminded us, the new year can serve as an invitation to reflect on and recommit to interrupting our habits and cultivating practices, re-align ourselves in purpose, and avoid slipping into old patterns.
This year invites us to reflect on our habits and practices around crisis and opportunity. May we all meet these junctures with our full presence.
The Chinese word for opportunity is Jīhuì.
It is made up of two words: Jī and huì. And Jī tells us why opportunity exists: because there is a critical juncture when and where change begins.
Without this juncture, there can be no opportunity.
Because opportunity doesn’t arrive on our doorstep like a gift. Rather, it exists because of a choice: a choice that needs to be made, within a particular period of time and space.
That’s the critical juncture.
As humans, we tend to be attached to the way things are–the status quo, and we don’t often ask for these critical junctures. Instead, we find ourselves arriving at them because of circumstance.
In short: opportunity arises when there is some pressure on the system.
All things will change. And because everything changes all of the time, everything we’re holding on to will elude us, slip away.
The Only Lasting Truth is Change
Of course, the paradox is that when we are comfortable–when everything is going in the direction we hoped it would–not many opportunities arrive. And so, we don’t make choices, opening the ground for what could come.
And when we aren’t making choices, the gifts can pile up. And they don’t last forever–each of them has an expiration date, a point by which a decision must be made.
When we face a moment where a choice is necessary–that’s a crisis. Because nothing in this world will remain whatever it is, forever. All things will change. And because everything changes all of the time, everything we’re holding on to will elude us, slip away.
All things will change. And because everything changes all of the time, everything we’re holding on to will elude us, slip away.
And one of the worst places to be in, is when that status quo slips away before we have made a choice. Before we have taken advantage of Jī, when and where change begins.
Habits to Interrupt
When we brace against change, we become less flexible, and less able to act in the moment. We become defensive, and unable to act on the offense, from our center.
So, bracing against change is one habit to interrupt as we face crises and seek opportunity. Another is perfectionism.
There are times when we may have the gift of watching a critical juncture open slowly, and when it does, we may believe that we can wait until the opening opens even further–and we stand by, waiting for the perfect moment, believing that this pace will remain the same, and an opening only goes one way. And in so doing, we miss the understanding that critical junctures open and close on their own timetable, in accordance with conditions we don’t control.
And so, that habit of waiting until circumstances are perfect, or until we reach the perfect conditions within ourselves, will keep us from taking advantage of this critical juncture.
We can’t predict, but we can practice…these 3 things:
Whether or not we can predict it, we can expect that opportunities will arise, especially if we are aware, observant. We can expect the possibility of opportunity and embrace it when it comes.
We can also avoid overextending ourselves so much that we don’t have the bandwidth to make choices and pivot when opportunity arrives.
And we can release attachments to make room for opportunity. It can be difficult to un-attach ourselves to things we’ve long cherished (sometimes, even after they’re no longer worthy of cherishing). And even if we can’t let go of them quickly, we must shed them slowly, to make space to move into opportunity when it arises.
Critical junctures open and close on their own timetable, in accordance with conditions we don’t control.
Wait…and then hurry up
Navigating critical junctures is a paradoxical practice: we wait for an opening to occur, and when it does, we must move quickly into it. Once an opening occurs, we cannot hesitate–it can close at any time. (And if we hesitate, and move into an opportunity on the later side of the window, we may not be able to reap the full benefit.)
Core Work
If we feel the impulse to brace ourselves as crises arise, we are reminded to relax, while staying in touch with our core. If we don’t know what’s important to us–and can’t feel that physically in our core–then we’ll be unable to move into that opportunity with our values intact. And that wouldn’t be worth the pivot.
Critical junctures open and close on their own timetable, in accordance with conditions we don’t control.
Be the Ones Who Move
Opportunity is going to come, mostly in the form of crisis. And there is work to be done in the meantime to be sure that we are the people who know how to move. That is the key. Not just to be the people who can observe, see it. We need to be the people who can move into it.
Every crisis, by definition, creates a set of questions that can impact our future.
Where can you stand in service and love?
“The actions that we take when there is a critical juncture can be entirely consequential long after we have passed. If we lean into it as if it will be so, we increase the possibility of that.”
