Chaos is a necessary component of a balanced life. However, most people fail to recognize the importance of disorder; indeed, most people spend the majority of their lives promoting and glorifying (at least consciously) the orderly. Right about now, you might believe me to be espousing anarchy, but I am no anarchist. Chaos is not the goal; it is merely desirable as a balancing force to the stringent order of humanity.

Allow me to explain. Around twenty thousand years ago, in the fertile crescent, humans adopted agriculture, settled down, and set about shaping their environment, on an enormous scale, to fit their needs and desires. The onset of agriculture transformed mankind’s view of the natural world from one of something to live in harmony with to one of chaos waiting for a dominant will to bring form out of its void. This desire to play god, to act as the regulator of our own universe, is still with us today. We cannot seem to see order that formed without someone imposing one’s will, as true order. It is only when we name, make, and regulate things that we can recognize any order.

Man’s desire for the concrete rules his life. From the first, he is taught to name and to count things. Later, he strives to go to college, get a respectable job, have a family, settle down, retire and spend his days in the Caribbean. It is my opinion that this excessive order does not make people happy. This is for the same reason that a life of total chaos, without any set rules, would be unbearable; extremes are unbearable. Excessive order is oppressive to the mind. Thus, living in such a set world, people crave chaos to counteract the rigidity of everyday life.

The establishment of order is not pleasing to the human psyche. The evidence is everywhere. What happens to most people who get a job, settle down, have kids, and establish a normal, super-structured life? They are dissatisfied. They have affairs, buy motorbikes, and take up gambling and driving fast. Their minds were unable to handle all of that order, and so counter it with a healthy desire for chaos; thus, mid-life crises. Subconsciously, it is likely that all of you are looking for this chaotic quality in life. Do you want to travel? Are you tired of your significant other or of your friends? Do you get sick of your classes?

These are all signs that your life is too structured, and your inner self is goading you to reestablish a harmonious balance of order and chaos. I doubt many of you would be entirely unable to find, upon serious reflection, instances in your lives, and in those of the people you know, that evince a desire for less structure and order.

This explains the destructive urge inherent in most people’s psyche. Taking things apart is just as enjoyable as putting things together. Seeing connections pleases the mind, but disassembling these connections is also a powerful source of pleasure. Too much order, just like too much chaos, becomes oppressive.

For the mind to function in top form, it needs a little bit of chaos. So seek to establish the necessary balance.

Do something without thinking about it first, take something apart instead of putting something together, get in touch with your chaotic side, not because chaos is desirable, but because true balance is made up of equal parts of order and disorder.