transition

all of life is transition.

all that will be done, has been done. there is nothing new under the sun. no new people, no new ideas, no new understanding.

if we are to imagine ourselves unique, we must look to our transitions to find novelty.

there is nothing new or interesting about pre-haircut me and there is nothing new or interesting about post-haircut me. it is the transition between the two people that is interesting. it is the path that i took to get from pre- to post-haircut me that is novel.

i may have said all this before.

there are many frigthening things in this life, and near the top of the list of frightening things is the notion that you (and me) are not unique. not special. not interesting in any way at all when viewed amongst the mass of humatity, living and dead. any language used to describe aspects of one person may be used to describe any number of other people. i have short hair, a silly beard, i roast coffee, ignore my guitar, program for a living, and lift weights. sounds like a unique combination. it isn't. i don't personally know anyone else who fits this description, but i have no doubt we could find several were we to try enough.

and yet, i doubt that we could find another person who, finding themselves in an identical life-state to me, arrived at their present condition via the same route that i arrived at mine. in other words, someone who experienced the same transitions. there are many people who have walked a mile in my shoes, but we've all walked that mile in different deserts.

and so, when our own obscure, repetative insignificance threatens to overwhelm us, we need only recall that while our state may not be new under the sun, our path has only our own prints upon it.