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I am deeply familiar with the unexpected bolt of lightning that tosses me from the heights of mental certainty—from the reality I have chosen as The Truth—onto the hard facts below my lofty vision.
I also know the “lighter” side of revelation via crisis.
Sometimes, that flash of surprise that crackles across my certainty arrives, not as a bolt of destruction, but as the vibrant, glowing curtains of light in the aurora borealis. Sometimes, insight, breakthrough, and revelation offer an alternative to that pratfall onto hard reality.
Both these ontological shocks deliver the sense of jamais vu. Not déjà vu, when a novel experience suddenly feels familiar, but its opposite: the sense that the familiar is suddenly strange or “wrong.” Suddenly reality is not at all what you’d thought. More gentle than the lightning that slams me to the ground, the aurora raises my eyes to the horizon.
Both shifts deliver clarity that can be shocking but is always profound.
Whether they arrive as a body slam or easy awakening, these realizations of “truth” overwhelm holistically. They touch both your mental certainty and your emotional self-image. Whether it is a hard wake-up call for your mind or inspired transformations in the heart of your purpose, these restructurings of reality often feel embarrassing. Why?
Because your inner judge asks: How did I not know before? How could I not see? Here are two illustrations from my leadership life.
After another emotionally brutal session with my CEO, I looked online for help. Back before AI-generated summaries, I tried a few search terms that seemed relevant. Suddenly I was looking at the “Power and Control Wheel” on the website of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. That lightning bolt was deeply embarrassing.
DING! DING! DING! I’m being controlled by emotional and psychological violence. How did I not see? I’m a PhD-credentialed psychologist, FFS!!
Then there was the national consultant, working on a project with my team, who casually asked, “Have you ever considered freelancing as a consultant?” And…no, I had not! Just like that, the sky opened in a radiant ribbon of colorful possibilities.
And I was embarrassed that, even as I was already planning a transition, success on my own had not occurred to me. At all.
Wait…I DID the therapy and personal growth work to believe in myself. Right?
My colleague’s validation revealed a new possibility and I leapt toward it, launching
LC Associates, my first DBA as a consultant.
Cognitive certainty that shatters upon its painful impact with reality is one form of revelation through crisis. Emotional / psychological certainty with periodic intuitive insights is another. Both drive you to a re-evaluation of your experience. In these moments you question what truly matters and what needs to change. In both scenarios, the result is a new “understanding” of your life.