By: Graham MacWilliams
Spanish broom grows where I see it every day, a reminder of the beauty of its flowers, which draw the eye from the regularity of the morning walk, but also of the beauty of the season in which they will soon fade. As one walks along the path, one can think that what they see will last forever, when in actuality what they are seeing is change. The flowers could not have bloomed if not for the soil which has grown hundreds of plants, for the rain which drenches the land, for the animals which might spread the plant’s pollen, but also disrupt it. Everything is changing all the time. Every time I see the plant, I am different. In seeing the plant, I am changing all the time. In every second I am walking, my breaths are different, my thoughts run along different tracks from last time. I will never feel these exact feelings again. Behind the micro changes in sensory inputs and my attitudes toward things generally speaking, everything I see is always the same. In change, sameness is present. In uncertainty, faith is present. In passing, we are present. It is in closeness to change that we appreciate how things are now. By passing on, we might know ourselves.
