Uncertainty as Possibility

Dr Rebecca Ray

During this time of great turbulence, what if you took curiosity by the hand and pondered over your potential for growth? Clinical psychologist Dr Rebecca Ray invites you to consider what’s possible for you as you navigate this crisis and shares her powerful prompts for self-reflection.

In a time of all of us collectively experiencing the world through an unknown lens, uncertainty, anxiety and overwhelm are pervasive.

The world looks different. Our daily lives have been turned upside down. We are required to do things we’ve never done before and stop doing things we took for granted just a couple of weeks ago.

I see you if you’re sick and suffering in any way.

I see you if you’re standing paralysed in the storm of it all, trying to pick your jaw up from the floor.

I see you if fear has taken over the wheel of your life and hijacked your emotional GPS.

I see you if you’re seeking control in a flurry of ‘I’ve got this!’ action.

I see you if you don’t have a choice other than to do so much more now than you have time or energy to do.

I see you if you’re being swallowed by an all-consuming barrage of what-ifs.

I see you if you’re feeling calm because trauma is part of your history and you’re all-too familiar with chaos and crisis.  

I see you if you don’t know how to do today, or tomorrow, or the next.

I see you if you don’t know how to do today, or tomorrow, or the next.

We are in this darkened time together, connected by a string of fairy lights shining with hope, patience, kindness, gratitude and love.

And it’s here that I have an invitation for you, lovely one: I want to invite you to consider what’s possible for you in this landscape. If uncertainty was renamed possibility, how would you show up differently?

To do this fully, in the most self-compassionate way, we first need acknowledgement. Please take a moment to recognise and embrace any parts of you that are scared, grieving, shocked, puzzled, overwhelmed, frustrated and stuck in scarcity. Give a voice to these parts of you. What do they need from you? If you were to show leadership to yourself, what reassurance and validation would you give?

It’s from this place, that we can move forward – not away from the emotions, but with them held gently within as part of our present experience.

Then, we take curiosity by the hand and look to what’s possible.

My invitation to you is to make use of the white space in your world right now to explore yourself, your life, your relationships and your roles. 

My invitation to you is to make use of the white space in your world right now to explore yourself, your life, your relationships and your roles. 

I want to offer you some guiding questions to help scaffold this self-inquiry, because possibility is a powerful entry point to changing your experience, if you allow yourself to dive in without judgement and self-censorship.

  1. What is your relationship with rest and doing less?
  2. How could you best support yourself right now?
  3. If you were to surrender to not knowing and allow it to be what it is, how might your experience change?
  4. Where could you connect more deeply, and with whom, right now?
  5. What have you been putting off making, creating, or doing, that could be brought into your world now?
  6. Where are you resisting taking personal responsibility? If you were to show up for yourself and your community, what would that look like?
  7. What (or who) have you realised that you’ve been taking for granted?
  8. What are you grateful for?
  9. If you turned your anxiety into action, who could you help right now?
  10. Where have you been allowing yourself to catch the negative energy projected onto you? What would it look like to shield yourself from that as much as possible?
  11. If you led with love and courage right now, what would you start doing? What would you stop doing?
  12. Where are you waiting to give yourself permission?
  13. What kind of energy are you contributing to your family, your community and the world at large?
  14. What is your contribution going to be during this time?

May this invitation into possibility unveil the richness waiting for you in this experience. As always, go gently, lovely one. I’m with you.

 

You might also like

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

Brighten up your inbox with our not-too-frequent emails featuring Peppermint-related news, events, competitions and more!

explore

More articles

The best gifts come with a story. We ask some of the makers behind the brands featured in this year’s Ethical Clothing Australia Mother’s Day Gift Guide to share a lesson from their mum, and how it shapes what they create today.
Seeking the ultimate wardrobe repeat item? Look no further friend, because the Acacia A-line Skirt has got you, boo!
From little things big things grow… Like a sweet compliment about a me-made dress sparking an unexpected friendship, and reminding Laura Jackson that often, ‘your people’ are closer than you think. All it takes is speaking up and connecting out loud.
Argentinean-born artist Cynthia Nudel paints without paint. Using textile waste dyed with organic scraps, her ‘biopainting’ transforms discarded materials into textured portraits that invite us to rethink beauty, waste and our connection to nature.
Imagine a table big enough for everyone, breaking bread and finding common ground with those we may see as ‘different’, but are at heart the same. Enter Feast for Freedom: a call for connection across cultures, and to say, ‘you are welcome here’.
Coffee begins long before your morning cuppa! Papua New Guinean farmer Elizabeth Duna shares what it takes to grow great coffee, strengthen communities, and lead as a woman in farming, as 2026 marks the Year of the Woman Farmer.

Hang out with us on Instagram

Mother's Day Chocolate Treats Subscription Special! 🌟⁠
⁠
This very sweet subscription offer comes with some glorious goodies, thanks to our friends at @TheOriginalCocoaTradersCo!⁠
⁠
Our lovely community manager Em, runs us through the offer.⁠
⁠
SUBSCRIBE FOR $79 AND RECEIVE:⁠
⁠
🌟 1 x 12-month Peppermint Subscription!⁠
⁠
PLUS!⁠
⁠
🌟 Vegan, gluten-free, 43% cocoa, Certified-Organic Taming The Jackalope Drinking Chocolate from @TheOriginalCocoaTradersCo⁠
⁠
🌟 Vegan, gluten-free, 70% cocoa, Certified-Organic Ship To Wreck Chocolate Flakes from @TheOriginalCocoaTradersCo⁠
⁠
🌟 Issue 64 (includes a free code for the #PeppermintDaisyDress digital sewing pattern!)⁠
⁠
🌟 A5 art card of our exclusive ‘Together We Rise’ Issue 60 cover design by @LukeJohnMatthewArnold⁠
⁠
🌟 All wrapped in fabric from @DoopsDesigns ⁠
⁠
Price includes postage! This special offer is available to Australian addresses only. Don't miss out – there's limited numbers!⁠
⁠
🌟 Link in bio!⁠
⁠
#PeppermintMagazine #MothersDay
Calling all brands who give a damn! 📣⁠
⁠
Bookings for our wonderful Sew&Tell digital issue are now open – if you are an awesome creative brand that fits right in with Peppermint's ethos of style, sustainability, sewing and substance, get in touch. Or if you know of one who might be keen – tag them below. We have packages for budgets both big and small, but spots are limited, so don't wait too long to get in touch! ⁠
⁠
Drop us a line at Mandy@PeppermintMag.Com for a chat with Mandy, our lovely advertising manager – she'll help you find the best way to share your good work with our awesome audience.⁠
⁠
We'd sew love to work with you! ✨️🧵✨️⁠
⁠
#PeppermintSewAndTell