Impermanence

I remember that one of my enduring beliefs or assumptions growing up was that nothing would ever change.  Time seemed to move at a glacial pace, particularly during school.

Now, it seems like the whole thing could fall apart at any moment, and I more or less assume that close friends are going to move away, divorce, or die without much warning.

Of course this is partly just a function of aging.  As time passes, it becomes more and more obvious that the ground beneath our feet is far from solid.  This is quite a revelation for those who grow up with a lot of comforts and safety, conditions that temporarily obscure, without actually delivering us from, the tenuous and contingent nature of life.

The biggest enemy we seem to face, though, is not the fluidity of life.  In fact facing up to the fluidity and vulnerability of our circumstances often reduces one's restlessness and dissatisfaction, can help us to take seriously the finite days and relationships that remain to us.  And as a species we have lived all but a millisecond of our collective history with the knowledge and awareness that we are not masters of our ships.  Hence we are well adapted to be at least reasonably at peace with uncertainty--that is, unless we actually insist on believing in our culture's promise that the purpose of life in fact is, as a member of Spinal Tap puts it, "to have a good time, all the time."