This episode of Living Myth begins with the idea that we are experiencing not just radical changes that happen in quick succession, but a maelstrom that threatens to upend life as we know it. The word maelstrom comes from old roots meaning, “a grinding stream or great whirlpool that sucks everything into its downward spiraling vortex.” Being alive at this radical time when extreme changes engulf most areas of life means that we repeatedly risk being overwhelmed and pulled down by events that can be disheartening and discouraging.

Faced with increasing uncertainty we must find things to hold on to that can keep us from being pulled under. We need the practices, the arts and the methods that allow us to witness the maelstrom but survive the vortex of descent and despair. People in Finland use the term “sisu” to describe an inner ability to push past usual limits when facing great adversity and survive even when the obstacles seem to be insurmountable.

Sisu involves an innate quality and latent power that exists deep within each of us, that can be accessed when our limits are tested and our greatest fears are faced. In that sense, sisu involves having the courage to follow what feels right and what feels just, and trust in life's hidden potentials. While sisu bears similarities to notions of resilience, grit and will power, it goes much further. The understanding of sisu includes an underlying sense of individual courage, but it also involves an awakening of the principle and power of a just and inclusive sense of social unity.