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Change and transformation



I recently read somewhere that (the author's point of view was) change and transformation differ thus:

Change relies upon a comparison with the past to define itself.  Transformation, by definition, is forward looking.  Or, at the very least, present-centered.  In the context of what I was reading, you'll guess, the comment was relating to "the self."

So, I'm still letting this percolate because I like it.  I think the statements are obvious, but I hadn't looked at it framed this way before.  I mean, self change; self-awareness; are such vast subjects, one could choose a different component of that broad topic every month for a lifetime.

I'm not digging deeply into change and transformation at the moment.  I'm pretty happy with where I am.  Still, I've got "stuff" I always work on, and new stuff happens to me--happens to all of us-- every day.  Even framing it as "happens to me" is a separate topic because it throws one into victim-mentality.  Never, never, ever a good place to dwell.   I consciously change my statement as I catch myself using phrases such as "happens to me."

I suppose I look at these principles, change and transformation, because I don't view my life as being in a place where I've "done all I'm gonna do."  So, if there are new surprises on the horizon for me; for my life; then it's not necessarily a bad idea to consider change vs. transformation.  I may encounter both, still, on my life's journey.  In fact, I really hope I do.

Thinking about it, my 88 year-old father is still undertaking new activities and, not transforming, but not staying in one place, and in some ways, I would definitely say, making changes.  I could focus on his physical self and say there are forced changes there, but, I am really thinking of his marvelous art work and a media he invented himself.

Change in my own life?  We are changing our home.  My husband and I are people who some would say are in a state of constant change, in certain ways; most notably, homes.  Not intentionally, and not, really.  We just know how to effect change in that way, and so we do, when it seems needed.  There are places I wish we would or could change, and yet, we feel stuck.  That was in fact one reason I was reading the aforementioned literature in the first place.  In terms of change, I would say I am the harbinger, always.  He would stay frozen in place if I, and the world, would allow him.

Transformation?  I have lived my life in the idea of transformation, I think.  I've made over my life and my livelihood multiple times, and I feel I know what transformation looks like on myself.  Not everyone can see transformation.  It may be a private thing, as well as an outward thing.  We do not always wish to share transformations.

I suppose I'm effecting a sort of a change by staying committed to writing something (something other than complete gibberish) on this blog, virtually every day.  This is a change for me, and perhaps at the end of the 365th day, I'll discover I've also effected a transformation.  But I doubt it.  I'm pleased with the change.  Writing something relatively meaningful that you're willing to allow complete strangers to see and doing it daily when you've actually never done it before is a good degree of change.



Ok, so, I just convinced myself I stepped into a change commitment without even realizing I'd done so.  Now I understand the queezy feeling I had when I announced to whomever was interested that I was committing to this.  I was basically saying, "You all are going to get to see if I can be accountable to MYSELF, for a year.  And, if I can't you all are gonna get to see me fail, right before your eyes."  YIKES!

I have some dreams.  They are floating up on the roof of my skull, almost out of reach.  But, they are there, and I remember when they arrived.  They have been haunting my waking hours for a few years, and I've even spoken of them to a few friends and people who asked the right things at the right time.  They may begin to gel, and this project may or may not help with that; I am not sure.  But, I am here to tell you, I am a dreamer, and have been my entire life, and every transformation I have wrought in my life has been portended by my dreams.  My waking dreams.

It's my hope that you, too, have such dreams and that they lead you to big things.  It's my hope that you continue to consider change and transformation, in whatever way it may bring new meaning to your life.  If transformation is in your dreams, remember, the keys to that will not be in your past.


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