Marney's Musings:
Autumn and Ancient Philosophy
Artellagram 9-4-13
Here in the US, there are still several weeks of summer left, but I personally am eagerly anticipating autumn, and not just because of the current heat wave here in Texas! :-) Fall has always been my favorite season, perhaps because it is a time when change is celebrated and embraced. The colors of our daily schedules -- especially those of us with schoolchildren in our lives -- follow the changing hues in nature as we welcome new beginnings and open our arms to gather bundles of the unknown.
"The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change." -- these words are attributed to Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, who is believed to have written these words in about 500 b.c. -- a full 100 years before Plato. It's humbling to consider that, in spite of the endless differences in human life and society since then, that change is our constant. Change is the thing that hasn't changed.
Of course, many variations of these words have been shared through the ages. The following excerpt from Creating Time shares a story about one of my favorites. This story is in the chapter titled "Creating Time through Synchronicity", which encourages us to play with our sense of time by noticing even the most subtle synchronicities that pop up in our lives:
I was recently reading Robert Grudin's book
Time and the Art of Living, in which he says, "Our common image of experience is about as accurate as a still photograph of a man riding a bicycle. Project this image back into reality, and the man will fall off his bicycle." Less than half an hour later, I quite randomly stumbled on a photograph of a bicyclist in my own collection of vintage photos. It was an ordinary convergence of coincidental moments, but one that I couldn't help noticing. So I looked for the message or lesson that might be hidden in the odd little convergence of time and space. I went back to reread the quote from the book, now taking my time to fully absorb it.
As I revisited the words, I realized that they were just what I needed to jostle my current resistance to change and embrace change itself as a comforting constant. The few months prior to this event had been marked by change and motion. I had felt an almost desperate longing for stillness, yet the serendipitous pairing of Grudin's quote and the photograph that I found moments later reminded me that although we can have moments of stillness, life itself is always moving, in constant momentum.
I was so thankful for this convergence of coincidental moments because it brought my attention to exactly where it needed to be. In fact, I created a piece of art around the photo of the man on the bicycle, and I keep it on my desk to connect me back to that coinciding moment in time, when a photo and a quote converged to bring me a powerful life lesson.
What is your favorite quote about change -- seasonal or otherwise? How might you turn it into a piece of art that can remind and comfort you, as we transition into a new season this month? You can also see the Creativity Tip in today's Artellagram for the "Gratitude and Leaves" project.
 If you'd like to play with more ARTsignments -- projects that combine creativity and self-discovery -- join us for the free ACT Training on Thursday, September 5 -- "Is ACT for Me?" Get info about the Free teleclass here…
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