We make our worst assumptions when we expect things to always stay as they are. It’s tempting, we acclimatise to our situation, normalise it, take it for granted. It becomes painful to imagine how we would cope if things changed.
But things always change.
Things Always Change.
The universe is constantly in flux. Physics abhors vacuums because she abhors stasis. Nature loves to create equilibriums, but equilibrium is not static, oh no. Opposing forces balanced against each other perfectly may be stable temporarily and in isolation. But that stability comes from complexity. And Physics, she really hates complexity. Physics will spend aeons grinding away and picking apart all the complexity Nature can create. Evening out the energy, spreading out all the matter she can find to fill in those awful vacuums. Slowly but surely destroying all organisation, all equilibrium, all complexity. Nature is faster, but Physics has Time.
There’s no rule that says things have to be the way they are. There’s no rule that says things will stay the way they are. Through whatever crises we face, there’s no rule that says we will make it through, or even that we can. For equilibrium to persist against entropy takes energy. Survival is an ongoing process which will always require more work. And we can only ever work to delay our defeat, we can never win.
So, what to do?
Impermanence will only be a source of anxiety or despair if we resist it. It’s natural to want to hold on to the situation we find ourselves in. To weave it into our identity and protect it. But this will ultimately fail and cause heartache. We can accept that we live in flux, that we are a part of it. We can embrace each beautiful moment as it manifests, then let it go as the next one arises. For every moment is beautiful, even if it is not what we were hoping for. Indeed it is the hope, expectation, desire which makes us unsatisfied with things the way they are. Instead of working to align our circumstances to our desires, we can adapt our expectations. To expect only that things will change. Embracing impermanence forces us to stop, to really experience this moment as it happens. Because once it is gone, it won’t come back.
And neither will you.
You are matter and energy made from ancient stars, manifested temporarily as a complex and wonderful human mind. But that manifestation is like a wave on the ocean. A wave is something that water can do, but it has no independent existence of its own. When the circumstances are right and all the necessary matter and energy is present, the ocean does a wave, and a powerful and beautiful, but temporary form arises. When the right circumstances are no longer present, the wave crashes and the water goes back to being an ocean, perhaps to create another wave or some other form again in the future. So it is with you, your circumstances, the ones you love, the human race, and the world. All are just forms dancing across the surface of reality. Something the universe is doing, for now. Unique and miraculous, even more beautiful because of their ephemerality. Embrace them, then let them go.
Artificial Integrity 