Hi

I’m sending this to you on the summer solstice, a time of celestial stillness, of barely noticeable change – which resonates with something I’ve been writing about this week.

I’m working on the first draft of the fifth and last Day Crafting workbook; this time, the topic is change. Here is a snippet I hope you find interesting.

Change across time can follow different trajectories, for example:

• Coping: Something negative happens and we slowly adapt. 
• Step: Dramatic ‘step’ change that happens quickly. 
• Turbulent: Change takes us through big ups and downs. 
• Gradual: Slow, incremental change that’s hardly noticeable. 

There are many other possible graphs, and most of us have experience of a wide variety. Regardless of the trajectory across time, in Day Crafting terms, the focus is at the working surface on the day we are in. Our attention is here because this is where we’re crafting change, step by incremental step happens. Change is easier because we’re effective at this perspective; with modest effort each day, great projects are achieved. This means that the process is more important than the product. However, this gradual trajectory illustrated above may be detrimental. 

The paradox of peaceful paths

When initiating change, especially one that we expect to be challenging, the slow and steady path isn’t always the right choice. The turbulent, quick and dramatic route can activate our psychological coping abilities more robustly than the slow and incremental path, leading to faster adaptation and recovery.  

When we encounter rapid, turbulent change, our psychological immune system, a set of adaptive mechanisms in our brain, kicks into high gear. These mechanisms are designed to help us manage the impact of negative emotions. In the face of intense, immediate changes, they are activated more effectively, enabling us to cope better and faster. This intense response can lead to quicker emotional recovery than a gradual, drawn-out change process, which might only partially engage our adaptive capacities.

Choosing the turbulent path may lead to complex or erratic days that demand significant energy and challenge our quality of inner life. However, this approach can be advantageous, sparing us from prolonged pain, especially when making swift, difficult shifts. In times of personal crisis, major life decisions, or when trying to break free from deeply ingrained habits, this approach can result in better long-term outcomes and personal growth.  

Coping

Some of us choose to accept an amount of daily negativity that is a corollary of this psychological phenomenon where we cope rather than initiate change. We can accumulate years of daily languishing in bad jobs or damaging relationships because they’re below the threshold that forces us to change. This is the negative side of a daily perspective. If the positive side of the gradual change illustrated previously is that small, daily actions can result in meaningful change over time, then this is the negative side. We cope with minor daily harms and stresses because change isn’t forced, but equally, over time, meaningful change accumulates but in a personally damaging way, for example, chronic stress below the threshold of burnout.

We fear initiating the turbulent, dramatic change, but we may find that it brings about a robust and positive healing response and means, overall, far less suffering between A and B. 

When the change concerns fixing something, we overestimate the negative intensity and duration on the quality of inner life from a quick and turbulent change. We underestimate the negative cost, accumulated stress, and languishing of the slow or no change.

If you’d like to discuss any of this or any other Day Crafting practice, please get in touch.

Yours,

Bruce