feature · June 2022
Changes
by Deborah Neary When George Madiou invited me to write an article for his magazine, I was honored, excited and a little bit intimidated by the concept of deadlines and commitments. The subject, “Rewarding yourself,” proved to be a challenge for me because I started to… Sign up f
Changes’- by David Bowie 1971
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't want to be a richer one
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different one
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
I have always been a David Bowie fan; even when my peers thought he was too strange and the world had not heard of him yet. The theme this month, "The Challenge of Change" brought this famous song of his to mind and it's been stuck there ever since! If you’ve never heard it, I suggest that you
"Get with it" and check it out!
Bowie was brilliant, and he was the king of change.
He constantly changed his look and his style and was not shy about borrowing ideas from the artists he admired. His music challenged the “norm” and many people, quite frankly, were freaked out by his bizarre lyrics and fantastic costumes. Looking back, it’s obvious that he was an incredible entertainer and didn’t "give a rat’s ass" if people felt uncomfortable with his act.
Bowie was a great example of the magic of change. He never apologized for it and he paved the way for thousands. He was a genius and is now a Legend.
“The only constant in life is change” - Heraclitus 405 BC.
That being said, it doesn’t seem to ease the feeling in us that change may also be scary and we don’t like to feel frightened. So perhaps we could go one step further and say; that the only constant in life is change AND the resistance to it?
Another great quote:
“When you are finished changing, you are finished” - Benjamin Franklin
Maybe the challenge is not the change but rather our perception of what it could mean for us and our lives.
Habits can be very difficult to change and we can also decide to give something up in an instant and make it so. The feeling beforehand about giving up something for the good of our health is stronger than the reality of just giving it up. The anticipation of having to do something different and the fear that we may not be able to handle the unknown change is a human condition.
Learning new ways of looking at life usually helps me to feel comfortable with change. Isn’t fear really more about the unknown than the change itself?
Change = Unknown S**t
Unknown S**t = Fear
Therefore: Change = Fear
I thought I’d have some fun with it!
“Change your thoughts, change your life” by Wayne W. Dyer it's a good book for the summer. Grab it at your local bookstore today and start reading his words of wisdom.