The Tao of the Swerve

Why I Trust Randomness More Than a 5-Year Plan

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Some people map out their five-year plans with color-coded spreadsheets. I roll dice, flip coins, and cast the I Ching.

Yup, call me cuckoo. I call it “Random Co-Creation”—my Taoist-infused way of co-authoring life with the universe without clinging to control. Because let’s be honest, life has never followed a linear script.

I’ve lived long enough and wildly enough to know that randomness isn’t the enemy. It’s the design. It’s the jazz solo, not the orchestra.

It’s the sudden detour that turns into your new home. It’s meeting someone on the train who ends up being your spiritual teacher for the next decade. And it’s all aligned… beautifully, I might add, with the Tao.

The Tao of the Unplanned

Taoism, as Lao Tzu tells it, is about flowing like water. Water doesn’t check the weather app or ask for permission before carving a canyon. It moves where it must, and so do I.

The Tao Te Ching is loaded with lines that feel like subtle nudges toward surrender. “The way to do this is to be.” “He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.” There’s no linear agenda, just patterns, rhythm, and wild, improvisational grace.

What I call Random Co-Creation is my way of harmonizing with that rhythm. It means I don’t resist uncertainty. I don’t pretend to know what’s next. I welcome randomness as a collaborator, not a curse. Because life, much like the Tao, is not interested in my petty plans. Rather, it’s interested in evolution.

I Ching: My Cosmic Compass

The I Ching is my GPS for this wild ride. It’s not about prediction, it’s about participation. Every hexagram reminds me that I’m always in relationship with the forces of change. Thunder shakes the earth. Wind penetrates gently. Fire clings. Water flows downward.

I’m not looking for certainty when I toss those coins. I’m looking for alignment. I’m not asking, “What should I do?” I’m asking, “What’s the energy at play here, and how can I move with it?”

It’s less about answers, more about attunement. In that way, the I Ching isn’t a book of fate. It’s a book of freedom. And it whispers this truth every time I use it: the cosmos is alive, dynamic, and inviting me to dance.

The Epicurean Twist: Atoms, Chaos, and Liberation

Now, here’s where it gets really spicy.

The ancient Epicureans, particularly the rebel thinker Lucretius, took things a step further. They said the cosmos is ordered by randomness itself. According to them, everything is made of atoms falling in the void.

Every now and then, one of those atoms swerves—a spontaneous deviation known as the “clinamen.” That swerve? That’s the reason you’re not a robot. That’s the birthplace of free will.

I love that idea. Imagine: your life is not preordained. Rather it’s a product of infinite tiny rebellions in the void. That one missed train. That late-night phone call. That accidental swipe. All of it—atomic collisions dancing into form. Freedom isn’t found in rigid planning. It’s found in the chaos.

The Epicureans would laugh at our obsession with certainty. They knew the world didn’t need a divine puppeteer. They knew the randomness of the universe wasn’t something to be feared, but embraced. Just like the Tao.

I’m Not a Control Freak—I’m a Co-Creator

Here’s what I’ve learned: When you live as if everything must go according to plan, you’re at war with the nature of existence. But when you live as if every moment is a sacred collaboration between you and the unknown… that’s when magic shows up. That’s when synchronicities pop. That’s when Random Co-Creation becomes your way of being.

I’ve stopped trying to be the author of my life. I’m the co-writer now. The Tao is my AI ghostwriter. The I Ching is my editor. And the Epicurean cosmos is my unpredictable publishing partner.

Call it fate. Call it free will. I call it divine randomness.

And I wouldn’t want it any other way.