Change Can Offer Beauty


Hello friends,

Change can feel hard. Sometimes change is accompanied by a deep sense of loss. Or we have foreboding, and fear what may come.

That’s okay. Natural. Wise, even.

Other times, the thought of change feels like a breath of fresh air. A necessary break from what has been.

But the reality is? Like it or not, fear it or welcome it, change will always come. As Heraclitus said, millennia ago: “You can’t step in the same river twice.”

The river flows. It is always, ever, changing.

The seasons change.

Our bodies change.

Our thinking, hopefully, changes, growing to embrace new information.

Climate changes, sometimes because of ordinary time bound occurrences, and other times because of human intervention.

Society? Well, some change is accelerated to dizzying speed, while other facets seem to be on endless repeat.

What helps with change that feels unsettling, worrisome, or wrong?

Our inner states. We can adjust our responses. Rather than being buffeted about by every stray emotion, we can cultivate a steadiness inside.

And from that steadiness, we can act.

Why am I thinking of all of that this week? Well, there’s the world around us, but mostly, it is because of some fallen tips of a Glorybower bush.

The fading fuchsia colored stems and petals lay in stark contrast to the damp grey sidewalk. And at the center of each five pointed pink star, shone round fat jewels in shades of blue and pale gold.

Even fallen, even fading, the Glorybower tips were beautiful.

Does change worry me? Of course. Despite courting liminal spaces, I actually dislike transitions. And daily, I wish the world we’d built together was a kinder, more sheltering place.

But I don’t fear what is to come. Deep inside me, I trust that I—and you—will do our best.

Will we make mistakes? Of course. We always do. But still, we can find ways to remind each other of the beauty in ourselves and in this world.

Best wishes - Thorn


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T. Thorn Coyle

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