Every living thing is like a river
THE MOVEMENT OF CHANGE
BOTH BUILDS AND DESTROYS
“Thought of the Week” for January 5, 1998
Is it not, then, a strange inconsistency and an unnatural paradox that “I” resists change in “me” and in the surrounding universe? For change is not merely a force of destruction. Every form is really a pattern of movement, and every living thing is like the river, which, if it did not flow out, would never have been able to flow in. Life and death are not two opposed forces; they are simply two ways of looking at the same force, for the movement of change is as much the builder as the destroyer.
Alan Watts. 1951. The Wisdom of Insecurity. New York: Vintage Books. Page 41.
Comment:
Every form is a Pattern
of Movement
by Reg Harris
Copyright © 1998 by Reg Harris. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. Apart from properly cited quotes and short excerpts, no part of this article can be copied or used in any form without written permission from the author. For permission to use, please contact me.
Is not this movement of change―flowing out and flowing in―also the essence of the Hero’s Journey? The journey is, essentially, a process of disintegration and reintegration. The old self, which has proved itself to be too limiting or ineffective, is disintegrated in the journey. The ineffective or limiting views, attitudes, behaviors and prejudices are purged by the trail of challenges, leaving behind an “empty” receptacle which is ready to reintegrate new, more effective and enabling elements into our character.
“. . . the movement of change is as much the builder as the destroyer,” and so is the movement of the Hero’s Journey, which is the process of change. To reject the call to growth and change is to reject all that gives life: flow, transformation, growth, expanding awareness, greater understanding, and a sense of the unity of all things.
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Every living thing is like a river
THE MOVEMENT OF CHANGE
BOTH BUILDS AND DESTROYS
“Thought of the Week” for January 5, 1998
Is it not, then, a strange inconsistency and an unnatural paradox that “I” resists change in “me” and in the surrounding universe? For change is not merely a force of destruction. Every form is really a pattern of movement, and every living thing is like the river, which, if it did not flow out, would never have been able to flow in. Life and death are not two opposed forces; they are simply two ways of looking at the same force, for the movement of change is as much the builder as the destroyer.
Alan Watts. 1951. The Wisdom of Insecurity. New York: Vintage Books. Page 41.
Comment:
Every form is a Pattern
of Movement
by Reg Harris
Copyright © 1998 by Reg Harris. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. Apart from properly cited quotes and short excerpts, no part of this article can be copied or used in any form without written permission from the author. For permission to use, please contact me.
Is not this movement of change―flowing out and flowing in―also the essence of the Hero’s Journey? The journey is, essentially, a process of disintegration and reintegration. The old self, which has proved itself to be too limiting or ineffective, is disintegrated in the journey. The ineffective or limiting views, attitudes, behaviors and prejudices are purged by the trail of challenges, leaving behind an “empty” receptacle which is ready to reintegrate new, more effective and enabling elements into our character.
“. . . the movement of change is as much the builder as the destroyer,” and so is the movement of the Hero’s Journey, which is the process of change. To reject the call to growth and change is to reject all that gives life: flow, transformation, growth, expanding awareness, greater understanding, and a sense of the unity of all things.