Have a look at this video please:
I had to go look for an old video, because the art of tightrope walking has been perfected to a point where “balance” is all we see.
But here, I believe we see the unbalanced moments quite well. Or.. do we?
What if “balance” is actually permanent rebalancing of imbalance?
I believe we see balance a some sort of “result”, and “end state”, perfectly still. Equilibrium.
But this videos shows quite well how balance is never fully “achieved”, and rather permanently “kept in check”.
What if change, transformation, is actually the same?
I recently read a good article on Philosphy Now, explaining how differently Western culture sees the concept of Ikigai, compared to Japenese culture (though not the core focus of the article):
” (…)in Western culture ikigai is often depicted as an endpoint – an overarching goal of finding everyday beauty that, once reached, will reward the person with a concrete sense of purpose. Yet by comparing the differences between the two cultures’ interpretations of ikigai, we can better understand both the concept and the cultures.
I think the pressure to succeed has caused much of the West to interpret ikigai as a destination, something to be found, rather than the concept that it was originally: finding small joys.”
What if the way we see Change is a bit like that too?
I think we have a natural tendency to see personal transformation as destination to reach.
“I will become XYZ”.
And once we have become who we wanted to become, achieved what we wanted to achieve, things will be different. Fixed.
So, I always try to go back to this video. To picture the tightrope walker in my mind.
There is no end point.
Change is never done. No finish line.