Volatility

Art: X-Men: Red #4

Volatility is a curiously misunderstood force of nature. Its power is not held in fury nor fire but rather in uncertainty. Risk is measured in the size of the change made and weighed against its options, seen and hidden. Herein lies its magic. Those willing to harness themselves to unknowable futures and let their faith in themselves draw dividends their way.

Volatility is not for the feint of heart. Viewed from afar as wildly unstable, it commits to change before its consequences are wholly known. A canny lifesmithing that banks on uncertainty and trusts its dynamic ability to metabolise ripples and ruptures in normality.

The truth is life is not stable. Stasis is certain death, as is refusing to evolve to prevailing conditions. At this crucial juncture in late stage humanity, we are trying to haul ourselves beyond the old world and build the new as we go. This places us in a fresh survival mode: we must lay new foundations upon which we will thrive, while dispensing with anything that moves the needle towards extinction. Volatility creates the fissure and the frisson.

So dispense with the dire dour and end times porn. Move beyond shaking fist at stars and wailing about what to do. Mars square off with Urania today and echoing through this week is wasted if you merely gawp or cower. These action stations are certainly volatile but their combination is electric. Aquaria and the new age call to the combined forces of the warrior and the freak, their chutzpah and fearlessness and no holds barred courage to transform.

If you are looking for disclaimers as these titans clash, keep your wits about you. The regular rules apply. Don't do stupid shit. Be full of care. Weigh risk against return and factor in the unknowable. Consider impact as much as intention, for none of us in this together are a party of one.

Courage is the heart's way of going for it even when it shakes and hammers. It is the daring leap of faith that trusts wings and saves all it loves, in the face of volatility and flaring. This gauntlet year will be our making, even as it breaks down what must give way. Trust the lightning and the leaping flames.

Poetry does need a bit of ferocity. The only way to attend to the fractured world is to write a ferocious kind of music, to sing that volatility.
~ Alex Lemon


Words c. Kerrie Basha 2022