Wednesday, December 13, 2017

When Simplicity met Complexity

When Simplicity met Complexity, and when Complexity encountered Simplicity, it was a match made in heaven.
But they didn’t know it.
They had the most profound effect on one another. At first, they each denied it privately to themselves. They thought that because they were opposites, that made them incompatible.
So they avoided looking at each other, as if they weren’t spying each other out of the corner of their eye the whole time.
“It’s so plain to see,” said Simplicity to himself. “…though she is so lovely and terrifying to behold!”
“Negative!” countered Complexity against the witness in her mind, “It’s really much more complicated than that! Look at all the entanglements and confusion rampant in the world, it’s impossible! But, still… he is just simply magnificent!”
One day they bumped into each other as they were passing in opposite directions through a narrow doorway. They each stepped to one side and then the other in accidental synchronicity attempting to pass one another by, but the effect was as if they were dancing face to face, and all of a sudden they each laughed out loud.
“What’s going on here?!” they both said in unison...and laughed again. After that, they began to feel a bit more comfortable in each other’s presence. They would go for walks together and Complexity would blab on and on about everything on her mind, and as Simplicity listened, his eyes grew large and his mind raced, although he could only think to say, “wow!”
He began to realize things he hadn’t thought of before and the stirring of a latent sense of potential within himself heretofore unimagined.  And the more Complexity talked, the more she began to feel a sense of relaxed serenity amidst her conflicting feelings she hadn’t known was possible.

So Simplicity said, “Well, okay, for simplicity’s sake, let’s say I see where you’re coming from. Nevertheless, the more things change, the more they stay the same!”
“It’s not that simple,” Complexity replied. “There are multiple layers of meaning and implications, possibilities and ramifications. The deeper you look, the more details there are to take into account!”
“Wait a minute,” said Simplicity. “Are you talking about the big picture… or the practical specifics?”
“Well, yes… and no! But, exactly, really, except  a little different; both!”
“Hey, so am I!”
And that’s when it hit them.
They knew there was a functional blend of their peculiarities.
When Complexity began to get overwhelmed and stressed, Simplicity would lean over and suggest, “Just breathe, the details will sort themselves out, just be patient and trust.”
When Simplicity started to get bored, or boring, or his outlook began to seem futile, or he ignored details that seemed important to Complexity, she would nudge him and say, “Isn’t it interesting how each same thing is a different same thing? Notice the subtleties and nuances. What if we tried a different approach?”

So I am going to.

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