We domesticate impermanence by clinging to any vestige of what once was.
Everything changes, nothing lasts
And even if something lasts — your perception of it changes. You change
The only thing that “lasts” is that which is beyond you.
It’s beyond you therefore you can’t get hold of it — it has hold of you
It subsumes you therefore has hold of you
So neither anything you hold has permanence,
Nor you yourself,
And yet you still strive to hold on to your possessions, your loved ones, your preferences, your ideas
And it doesn’t take a genius to see the change everywhere around, and impacting everything, with no exceptions
This place looks different
How we do things is changing
What you can do is changing
What you want to do is changing
That person has different interests now
You thought you wanted it and now you have it (and you hate it)
You thought THIS was you, but maybe it was not
…
And what do we do with it?
We cling to any vestige of permanence
Anything that still hasn’t changed
The place still has the same name
The person still has their familiar face
The memories you still share
You’re still having goals and pursuing them, and they are similar
You still like music and countryside walks
You’re still a little lazy and a little ambitious, a little friendly and a little angry
You still want a new car and still want to get wasted
And there’s still a way to feel a bit more like you once felt
…or perhaps there’s even a way to feel BETTER,
The other way in which we domesticate impermanence — is by REPLACING that which we long with something we strive to ACQUIRE,
You recapture the past glory by going after GREATER glory
And it’s… ok
Is it not?
It is not ok to care?
Is it not ok to love?
It is not ok to hold something dear, and value?
And is it not ok to YET go after MORE?
YET LIVE MORE?
YET love more?
Yet CREATE more?
It is ok
But do you know what?
The past is dead
The past is fucking dead
AND the future will be DEAD too, one day, for you anyway
So
The only thing that you manage to REGAIN is but a SHADOW of what once was,
It DOES however stand on it’s own
(and likely you will be nostalgic after it some time from now much the same way you’re nostalgic about whatever bullshit of your past)
But it NEVERTHELESS will pass
The conclusion obviously is simply:
-DO CARE
-DO look back with FONDNESS to your past
-DO look forward to your future with ARDOUR and ambition
-and foremost DO enjoy the only thing you have — which is this moment
-and of course understand once and for all that ALL of that is all but DEAD already
=You can simultaneously VALUE your past, CONQUER the future…. and yet CLING to nothing, and have ZERO attachment to the impermanent