the ice house

John F. Kennedy is quoted as saying, “the Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity.”

If you look up the actual phrase, it’s quite a few more than two brush strokes. But the point is probably well taken: we spend our lives fighting the status quo. It’s not a glass house, it’s clear crystal ice, and we spend our years smacking our foreheads against the ceiling, trying to break through, to build a better system, to make the world a better place, for ourselves and for everyone else.

We call it a crisis because it threatens our way of doing things. Has the opportunity to take us down and put us under, ruining this utopia we’ve made.

But within that change is opportunity: a brief moment when the ice is broken—painfully, yes, with shards, threatening the structural integrity of the house—but with the opportunity to reshape how it freezes this time, adding on a new room, a new layer, replace a wall with a window and a window with a door. 

Crisis must be met with response. But part of that response can mean building it better.

Thank you. Let’s have a great day.