While we are Talking About Change…
“plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”- Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
This quote, attributed to Karr (a French novelist), is as follows (in English):
“The more things change, the more they remain the same.”
I plan to write periodically (as time permits and the mood strikes me) about CHANGE, because both the word and the concept fascinate me. I invite others of you to add your own thoughts about CHANGE.
When you get a chance, look at all the definitions of the word “change.” They are myriad. For today, I want to first focus on the above quotation. What the heck does it mean? If Yogi Berra had been quoted, rather than Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, the saying would probably have been closer to this:
“The more things change, the differenter they are.”
But back to the Karr quote. To me, it certainly seems a paradox of sorts. What I think it means, in part, is that there is no longer anything left that can be TRULY new. Same shit, different day. In other words, anything that we can do, anything that we can think, anything that we can feel, has already been done, thought, felt before.
Whether this is true or not is debatable.
For me, the thing of which we can be sure is that nothing is permanent.
Change can be good. Change can be bad. It’s hardly ever neutral, is it? Fight it as hard as you will, yet change is inevitable. Sitting completely motionless, being completely mumb, closing out all noises and actions around you, and taking the shallowest of breaths that you might, you cannot stop change.
Learn to accept change, or to adapt to change, but don’t fight it tooth and nail. You will go down in flames, failing miserably, depressed and contorted beyond all recognition. Or not.
Change is fleeting, ephemeral. It is here in an instant, then gone just as quickly. The minute you see change, it disappears. Replaced by more change. But only for a split second. And then that, too, is replaced. By change, of course.
NEXT, what do you think of the expression, “he changed his mind”? This seems nonsensical to me. No one actually changes his mind, does he? Changes it into what? A kidney? Play-dough? A dozen long-stemmed roses?
When you change your mind, what do you replace it with? Silicone (like they do with fake boobs)? Someone else’s mind? Or a completely brand spanking new mind, hot off the assembly line, maybe with a 30-day trial period, money-back guarantee? Perhaps people change their opinions. Or change their intentions. But change their entire minds? I don’t buy it.
More importantly to me, though, is what do YOU think?
