Reflection

 "Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible."

Thich Nhat Hahn

Over this summer I have visited some of the same local parks, beaches, trails and gardens a number of times. I began to notice that each time the experience was like coming upon the place for the first time. The fact of impermanence is found everywhere in nature. It was striking to me how little attention I actually paid to the constant presence of impermanence that was all around me. 

Nature is showing us every day how the world never stays the same. In every second, the nature around you has shifted. One moment, there’s a wind. The next, a bird flies by. The next moment, a leaf falls from a tree. Next, the clouds clear to let in the sun’s light. All of this—and so much more—can happen in the space of just a few moments in one single place where you stand. 

To demonstrate this I've chosen one place, Camano Island State Park.  And I'll share from three visits there over the summer: June 27, August 4 and August 18.

Above, June 27 in the late afternoon; cloudless skies, still, bright and quiet.

August 4 at sunset; popcorn clouds, stiff breeze and fading light. 

Looking across to Whidbey Island and the Olympic Mountains.

"All through your life, the most precious experiences seem to vanish. Transience turns everything to air. You look behind and see no sign even of a yesterday that was so intense. Yet in truth, nothing ever disappears, nothing is lost. Everything that happens to us in the world passes into us. It all becomes part of the inner landscape of the soul and it can never be lost." 

John O'Donohue

And below, August 18th at sunset; cloudless skies, smoke in the air from fires north of us and a chilly evening breeze. 

"Impermanence is a principle of harmony. 

When we don't struggle against it, we are in harmony with reality,"

Pema Chodron

As the season changes from Summer to Autumn, I'm grateful for this little exercise in the necessity of impermanence. I'm looking more carefully. And appreciating nature's bounty even more. Being mindful of the ever changing scene all around reminds me that everything is in process, including myself! Thank you for joining in this reflection on "everything must change".