The Secret to Change

Do you embrace change or do you wish for things to be the way they were?

Depending on which hemisphere you’re in, the photo below might be a familiar site. One solitary leaf hanging on for dear life. Or the first frost.

Here on Canada’s west coast, we’ve been marvelling at the stunning array of colour and the volume of leaves on the ground this year. Usually, it’s the eastern provinces like Quebec and Ontario that put on such a dramatic autumn show. Less so here. A friend recently wondered aloud if we have such an extensive carpeting of leaves this fall because of the extreme drought we went through in the summer. I hadn’t thought of that. But with climate change—and season changes in general—comes personal changes. I tend to crave warm, comforting foods over my usual salads. Snuggly clothes and curling up with a book in front of the fire is always top of mind as I near the end of my day.

I’ve gone back to my knitting. Don’t laugh; the meditative action of knitting helps me work out plot points for my thrillers! Unless I’m knitting in community. In which case, we do more sipping than knitting. 🍷 Then the next day, I have to rip a large chunk of it out.

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Socrates

I love this quote because I find that unlike the change of seasons, where we have no choice, adapting to change in our personal or professional lives—or even welcoming change—can be much more of a challenge.

When my parents were my age (ancient, I thought!) I remember them saying things like “When I went to school, I had to walk two miles there and back again. In the snow.” And a gadzillion other cliches I won’t bore you with. Now, I hear updated versions of that from some people in my circle of friends. No names; they might be reading this!

I’ve always prided myself as someone who actually likes change. As a creative, I think I get bored easily. The same applies to changing the look of a room in my home by painting, or redecorating, or just moving the furniture around. I’m sure my husband has come home more than once and wondered if he was in the right house! Or sat down where there used to be a couch that is no more.

As a woman of a “certain age,” I find the topic of change so interesting that I’ve recently had to stop and think more deeply about it. While I embrace change in my writing and publishing work—and I love learning new technology—I realize I’m not so enthusiastic when I consider other types of change. For instance, I would hate it if I had to leave the tiny village in which I live (close to a cosmopolitan city) and move somewhere else. My safety net of people is here. I could get around my village with my eyes closed. My soul resides here between the calmness of the sea and the majesty of the mountains. In yet, this this type of change happens to people every day. For health or financial reasons; after divorce, bereavement, or other life-shifting events. Perhaps you have gone through one or more of these issues.

I had to sit with this a while. And I realized I may not be quite as adaptable as I thought. At the same time, I am hyper aware that our world is changing and will continue to change. In so many ways, in so many places, the world as we knew it has changed irrevocably. And not necessarily for the better. But in other ways, young people (or at least younger than me) are making enormous strides in everything from politics to space travel. Many of them are the driving forces behind new cures, research and technology. Politics (which I promise not to get into here) is rapidly changing from the old guard to the new. For some, it’s not happening fast enough.

Here are my top 3 tips to help embracing change: