Both sides of change

     Well, it's a short couple of days before Santa arrives, which means my sweetie will be making delicious treats all weekend for our Christmas Eve soiree.  It also means she's probably going to try putting me to work on some cleaning task or another, so I figured I'd better get this blog post written now before the orders start flying in.

​     This is my latest piece, I completed it last night and I'd like to talk about it a bit because it reflects, at least to me, both the state of the world and the state of my mind. I call it Transmutation, which is a term that describes the state of changing from one form to another.  Let me explain:

​     They say we're always in a state of constant change (yes, I know using "always" and "constant" is somewhat redundant, it was intentional, for emphasis).  Some say change is exciting; others say a change is as good as anything.  Well, I suppose all of that's true, but change is also scary and confusing.  Think about it, when babies change from babies into kids, they go through that strange little phase where they have this weird head that's too big and that big belly, all on a tiny little body, then they're cute.  Then, we go through puberty and we go from cute kid to awkward mess or arms and legs and acne until we emerge as pretty darn cute adults.  Things change all the time.  I think the entire world is in the midst of a change, right now, as you can see, everything seems, and is, in a state of confusion.  Rhetoric is high, everything seems to be a huge mess that makes no sense whatsoever, and everyone is pissed off at everything and everyone.  But if you look closely enough, amidst all the chaos, all the confusion, there's a beauty, a symmetry. Change is never easy, but somehow, you know it's going to happen, and even in the middle of it, there's a nugget of comforting certainty.

​     I find this apropos on a personal level too.  There are a lot of changes in the works over here, both in my personal and professional life.  Some of these shall be revealed over time, others maybe not.  In any event, even though I can intellectualize the good and bad of change, I don't necessarily deal with it in such an elegant fashion.  This piece is a culmination of my being caught up in the blinding, swirling insanity and coming out the other side of it to be able to see that beautiful symmetry I mentioned above.  That's the thing about change, you have to go through it to see the beauty, just like a moth has to sleep in that slimy cocoon before he gets to emerge as a beautiful butterfly.   I'm transmuting the nervous, frantic uncertainty of change by recognizing the inherent order in it, seeing the beauty.

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