Impermanence

[frogprincess21ca]

It was recently brought to my view the impermanence of People and things within our lives. My question being in regards to this. How does druidism handle the impermanence of things. Friends/ people entering and leaving ones lives. Jobs/ volunteer positions starting and ending. It is a curiosity to me how things that "should" be permanent or at least semi permanent have become very fluid within our current culture. I did review the triads in hope of finding some wisdom there to meditate and to build on but nothing became apparent. How does our druid Faith and spirituality handle the concept of impermanence . How can one become more comfortable with it, how can we live with and accept that not all things will be there forever(including friends and partners whom we hold dear that haven't passed into the other place.)

Tanya

[StephenThomas]

I certainly have no right to speak of the druid way of seeing the question you ask. I am so new to this that I'm not even out of the nursery!

Having said that, I would say maybe two things.

One, we live a cyclical life. Things naturally come and go into and out of our lives. It is simply the cycle of life. There often is no rhyme or reason to it. AT least it can seem that way to us. Life comes and goes, love comes and goes, friendship comes and goes. Sometime they come back around again, sometimes they don't.

The second thing is, and this is just my opinion, people and events come into and out of our lives to teach us things. God/Goddess/Spirit moves us to learn to grow. That doesn't happen with out things coming and going. Sometimes it's painful and sometimes it is absolute bliss.

I think one of the greatest lessons we can learn is, like the old saying, the only constant is change, the only permanent thing is impermanence.

[Astrid]

One, we live a cyclical life. Things naturally come and go into and out of our lives. It is simply the cycle of life. There often is no rhyme or reason to it. AT least it can seem that way to us. Life comes and goes, love comes and goes, friendship comes and goes. Sometime they come back around again, sometimes they don't.

The second thing is, and this is just my opinion, people and events come into and out of our lives to teach us things. God/Goddess/Spirit moves us to learn to grow. That doesn't happen with out things coming and going. Sometimes it's painful and sometimes it is absolute bliss.

I think one of the greatest lessons we can learn is, like the old saying, the only constant is change, the only permanent thing is impermanence.

I think you pretty much hit it on the nail there

I think one of the best things I have gotten from drudiry is peace with life's impermanence. Everything will come to and end and that is not a bad thing because there is no ending without a new begining. As Stephen said this is what nature reminds us of with each passing seadson. That feeling that winter will never end and then one day - like it came out of nothing - Snowdrops are coming up from under the snow.

Learning to deal with Impermanence can be more tricky and we cant really ignore it anymore. The days of spending all your worklife in one job is distant myth for most people these days...

I think there are 2 ways to deal with impermanence for me. The first is celebrating the change of the seasons, that way i always "see it coming" and all days I am reminded to treasure the here and now because tomorrow I will be of to other adventures. The second is to remember that I am always the eye of the hurricane that is my life. No matter how much everything changes tomorrow - I am always me - And that is permantent - for better or worse

[Zylah]

Stephen and Astrid really both expressed it beautifully. The observance of the seasons is intrinsically about change, and druids certainly make ourselves aware of that.

I also think that a beautiful thing about having our cyclical, spiral way of viewing life is that within the constant change, there is also a sameness. There is a permanence within the continual changes that can be seen in the pattern. Humans tend to want two things in varying degree: change and permanence. We desire both because it's in our nature to; it's in our world and our universe also.

The seasons always change, but they always change in the same cycle; winter always follows autumn, and spring always follows winter. The tides are always changing, but they change in the same pattern. No wave is the same, yet the overall movement of the ocean does not change. No star is precisely the same, but they follow the same steps in their distant, silent dance.

Our emotional involvement with people in our lives who come and go makes it more difficult to accept the pattern at times; even recognizing that change will come, that it is right for it to happen, and that our lives follow a pattern of cycles can sometimes not totally comfort us in a time of loss - whether through death or through a parting of the ways that we find exceptionally painful. The best I can say in this regard is this: grief is a natural reaction to pain; pain will come, because it is a part of life and of growth. We cannot get rid of the pain, but we can learn to be bigger than it, so it does not swallow us.

If you find you are in pain because of changes that are unpleasant to you, don't try to suppress, minimize, or deny it. Let yourself feel the pain and grieve the loss, knowing that you will grow through it and emerge stronger - it will not diminish you; on the contrary. Winter comes every year, and every year flowers shrivel and leaves fall, and death settles over the land; but Spring is just as sure as winter, and without winter, there would be no spring. Life exists by bringing death; death gives birth to new life. It is a cycle with pain and beauty in abundance; we will take part in both as we travel here.

It was an excellent question, Tanya; blessings to you.

[illion]

Dear, Zylah.

You described in a beautiful way what I've found to be the deeper meaning of Yule celebrations.

Blessings on your path

[Crystal Cat]

I have really enjoyed reading all the contributions to this post. Our lives are cycles and even as we celebrate the wheel of the year there is change in every day. Life has had some very jagged edges this year but the three givens I have found to be constant are silence, love and truth. Silence is a very useful tool when you are not sure how to respond, often thus avoiding a negative situation. Love can never be a mistake. If you have done your best with your heart and the truth, how can you have doubts. If a situation does not work with love and truth it would never have worked.

[Whitemane]

The only thing that is constant is change, and it is a wonderful thing. It is not about the loss of the past, because it will always be with us. It is about growth, development, and maturation.

Growing older is the biggest change of all, but it is not something to be frightened of. One day, you will wake up, and see something: a bird or a squirrel playing in the trees, perhaps a flower in bloom, and you will see your place in life. It is an amazing transition: understanding, proportion, and a feeling of place and of self all belong to you now. You can't rush it or force it, just be ready to welcome it.