I’d been wondering about a time in all of our lives when we lived a beautiful new change.
When the old is not yet gone, and the new is not yet here — what do we do?
We’re in a strange time. A lot of things are disappearing in front of our eyes, and we know the old systems aren’t working any more, and that something new has to come — but we don’t know what those new things can be, because the old things are still so messy. You look at it and think: “What are the choices? There are no real choices!”
And yet there are. We have to invent them. Because we always have invented them.
The scary thing is that we know it isn’t going to be easy. Change is usually painful at first. Then, after a while, it’s less painful. And you get used to it. And then, after a while, you find ways to thrive in it, if you’re not the stubborn kind. And that, my friends, is what I’m hoping for: a beautiful new change, one that isn’t going to be too painful for all of us.
I’ve been wondering about a time in all our lives when that was possible. Or when we lived it, maybe. We’re not all the same; we don’t all have exactly the same experiences. But maybe you went to a new school once. A new town someone moved you to. And the big people, the parents, told you it was going to be okay, that everything was going to be okay — and you didn’t quite believe them, because you didn’t know anyone there and you had no idea what to expect. But you had to go anyway. You can’t not go to school. You can’t not move to the new town, because what’s bigger than you is moving you along in life, and you don’t have a choice.
So what did you do? Did you run inside yourself and hide away? Did you try to resist, scream and shout, try to hit things? And did that change anything? Well — did it?
We have to invent them. Because we always have.
For me, as the adult today, I’d like to witness the change gracefully. To be in the middle of it, no matter what, and take conscious action rather than unconsciously react — to stay out of conflict and harm, and to take care of myself and the people around me. I know it isn’t going to be easy, and we won’t all find ourselves in the middle of it the same way. But when you know the change is coming, when it’s there ahead of you — well, then you do something. You can prepare.
So that’s what I’m doing here: trying to prepare myself, by thinking it through. And I’m hoping that’s helpful to all of us, in some way.
See you on the page.
