The River of Change

Whenever I see rivers, I am always reminded of one of my favourite quotes by an Ancient Greek Philosopher, Heraclitus. I actually blogged about this before, when I started my own blog three years ago, which succumbed to a mountain of Architecture work. Topically, a lot a has changed since then, but my thoughts about the quote much remain the same. So here's a copy of that dated post, relating to the above picture of a waterfall in the Brecon Beacons photographed today.

“You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you”

The meaning behind this is that us, the world around us, and everything else in the universe is forever changing. Each moment is instantaneously unique and irreplaceably precious for it is impossible to recreate. We flow through our lives in a forever changing state of mind, perpetually varying our thoughts, opinions and attitudes. As the world moulds itself and continually adapts around us, we adapt too. I speak not of just society as a whole, but of us as individuals within that society. We persist to learn, change and develop with the world around us; be it intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously. You can’t fight the current, so go with the flow.

What I seem to revel in myself with this quote is how it can literally be applied to everything. There is not one thing in the universe that is not in a state of change. In fact, in a paradox sort of way, change is the one thing that is continuos throughout life. Heraclitus realised this:

“Nothing endures but change“

So, this has made me think. If we are forever changing, do we ever really have ‘one self’? Am I the same person I was yesterday? Will I be the same person tomorrow? Will you? Our individuality is actually something that’s constituted by where and when we are through our life – it’s circumstantial. For example, I like to think of myself as young and free spirited, it’s a definitive factor of my individuality. But will I be young and free spirited in 50 years time? Young; no, free spirited; maybe, but it will all depend on the circumstances. Yet I would undeniably still be me. On a smaller time scale still, people change from day to day. Our states of mind develop as our mind is opened to new opinions and points of view. Nothing is for certain. Nothing can be expected. So, expect the unexpected. You don’t know who you’ll be tomorrow.

“He who does not expect the unexpected will not find it, since it is trackless and unexplored”

I think a lot can be learned from Heraclitus.


*My Original Blog