Chaordic Imagery

Chaordic Imagery

The word chaord was coined by Dee W. Hock and is made from the words for chaos and order. A chaordic image is one that moves along the boundary of chaos and order. In nature, chaordic images are often things like waves crashing on a shore, or a fire flickering, wind moving through trees, or clouds morphing as they move across the sky. They consist of elements of pattern, and then deviation from it. In our research, we've found that people in overwhelm states (dorsal vagal shutdown) often find it soothing to allow the eyes to settle onto chaordic imagery. In this kind of a nervous system state, we are generally trying to diminish stimulation as we make our way out of it. There is something about tracing the boundary of the felt sense, of allowing our attention to wander along the edge of what makes sense and what doesn't, which maps well onto letting our eyes rest on chaordic imagery. Perhaps it is the appeal of the primal fire- in which we can see imagery arising that may be connected to what is inside of us, and may be something outside. Perhaps the Japanese word boketto, which refers to staring vacantly into the distance, is connected to this process.