Change, the Missing Link

As I'm sitting here studying the remnants of broken chains in the waste basket (I never use that term because I don't care for waste, but it seems appropriate here) I see photos, cards, mementos of the past. I'm also surveying the unlinked chains of what could be the future. They don't look dissimilar. There are also photos, some framed, perhaps prematurely, and mementos signifying promises of memories to come. I am reminded of how much of a constant change is in life. Chains and change are inextricably linked.

I've always been a fan of change, so much so that I used to change the furniture in my bedroom and living room around every few months. As I got older, and better employed, my furniture became more substantial. Being a single woman living alone, that kind of change doesn't happen much anymore. I started changing hairstyles every few weeks, probably to compensate, but then I grew dreadlocks.  I realized that as we get older, life's dealings become more substantial and so do the changes. Families are formed, careers flourish, bank accounts get bigger (a little bigger) children grow. Changes then have a bigger impact than the sofa being by the window.

Many people are resistant to change. They grumble about restructuring on the job, some stay in bad relationships. There's even a commercial for baby clothing with a slogan "If they could just stay little till their Carters wear out." So now we don't even want children to grow. Being resistant to change is about fear. People are afraid of the unknown. But remember what fear is : (F)alse (E)vidence (A)ppearing (R)eal. Changes happen everyday, every second, and the world hasn't ended yet. Change is necessary for progress, and although not all change is what we would like, we can't pick and choose the changes we want. Children need to grow, learn, make memories, form links of their own. Without change, careers don't advance, love doesn't grow, life doesn't progress.

As this country, the world, is sitting (literally) on the precipice of change, we seem to be in a waiting period. Maybe that's what people find most frustrating about change, the anticipation. I think of it as a building time, a period of preparation. Perhaps what we think of as waiting, is actually the change slowly beginning. It took a change in resolve to decide to unite and make a stand, as is happening  around the globe. Bonds, or links are being formed, clarity is being gained, and I'm sure quite a bit of self realization is happening. At this thought, I am brought back to the chains around me whose links have either been broken by change, or will be formed by it. I'm a little nervous about letting go of some links though they have served their purpose, and of connecting to new links whose purpose I have yet to learn. I find it to be at once sad and exciting, and definitely necessary. Love and light.