The art of change
Today I re-purchased a book that helped me survive my early 20’s. Then, I was worried about the emptiness I carried inside, today I wanted to plunge again in its recomforting idea of change. The poem 76 of the Tao Te Ching has, as one of its most impactful phrases, a warning about strength. A warning for us to re-think the concept of rigidity. To understand that the branch that bends, does not break.
Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered. Thus it is that firmness and strength are the companions of death; softness and weakness, the companions of life. — Laozi
The main virtue of the Tao is the “Wu wei”, the no-action, which can be such a difficult thing for us to swallow, given we're so used to be “human doings”. However, what is left when we stop action is being, and most of us will turn to podcasts, running marathons, alcohol and whatnot to avoid being.
I think, however, there is no other way to live a joyful life but being. And the more you are, the more life can sway you in different directions, without stopping from being (or becoming). I know this sounds convoluted and a zig-zag of philosophical argumentation, but it's simpler than that. Or at least, simpler to be understood, not praticed.
Change, like death, is an inherent part of life. Seasons are the most clear example of that. With that on the table, we better learn how to deal with it. Almost every culture and/or religion have some interpretation of impermanence. The Buddhists have as one of their pillars “All things are impermanent”. Hinduism also is very much on board with this idea, although they believe “The soul” is imperishable. This idea is best summarized with Shiva in his dancing form. He dances to create (but also to burn down in flames) the universe, while maintaining the most serene face. Heraclitus, somewhere around 5th century BC said “everything flows”, and still, with all of this backup of ancient (and modern) philosophy, most of us refuse to embrace change.
But why?
My guess is that embracing change requires a fair amount of courage and hope. It requires a plunge into the depths of us, a understanding of what it takes to find joy no matter the external configuration of life. A wisdom to sooth our pain and fears, and the ability to meet, creatively and enoughly, our needs. A serenity to forgive the immutable past, and a trust that we, or whatever we become, is enough to face life, in all its awe, but also all of its destruction. Sometimes there will be joy, sometimes we will just power through. It all sounds very Stoic, but I'd prefer to call it “A hopeful Nihilism”.
It obviously started as a joke, but more and more this has become my philosophy in life. Nihilism, because the universe just was, is and will be. There is no inherent meaning arising from the cycle of life. Unfortunately the destruction and pain is, more often than not, just a bunch of molecules loosing the battle to entropy and returning to chaos. It just happens. However, chaos is the breeding mother of everything that is. And we can then, choose to embrace it or not.
The emptiness, the chaos, the non-existence in absolute or the non-existent of the specific fulfiller of our needs can always be a space of creation. But this creation requires two powerful abilities, hope and criativity. Yet, how to be hopeful in a world of hopelessness and despair?
By forging new ways to exists, to connect, and to satisfy our needs. By imagining life beyond the life “we always imagined”, and by daring to live, even if for just one afternoon, a different life. It is the memories that we can exists, and be fulfilled, in different configurations that allow us to sooth or fear of the future, and craft a way to exist joyfully in a world that is, quite frankly, full of angst. There is no straight recipe, but just like the trees from the Tao Te Ching, we need to be flexible.
Flexibility is what allow us to face change with tolerable pain. Think about that next time you stretch…
