All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. ~Anatole France, French novelist (1844-1924)
Truer words have never been spoken. With my time here at Warwick finally picking up pace, I figured this would be a good time to change my blogskin as well as a reflection of the transition in my life.
The subtitle to my blog this time is a quote by Nobel Prize winning novelist Anatole France. I'm sure most of us are already familiar with the concept of inertia as a law of Physics. The fact is, humans are creatures of habit. No matter how adaptable a person is, your brain automatically resists the changes because changes force you out of your comfort zone. You are compelled to do things in a different way, or try things that you have never done before, maybe even change your mindset and lifestyle, and your body subconsciously resists these changes, but eventually it adapts. It finds a middle ground between the old and the new. For me, there is no such thing as a 'total makeover'. Whatever happens in the past will affect the present and future. 'Starting on a clean slate', 'or turning over a new leaf', are just perceptions of judgemental people. Invariably, people are linked to their past actions and decisions. A theory of note would be Einstein's Relativity Theory on Light Cones:
by using this diagram, he explained how the past affected the present and future. Anything outside the shaded regions of the cone would not have an effect on our lives, but anything that occurred within the cones would. General relativity at work.
Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix~Christina Baldwin, author
Despite our resistance to change, it is the sign of progress. Without change, civilisation would have stagnated. Change is the mark of evolution. Barack Obama, who is the frontrunner in the current American Presidential Race, based his campaign on change. 'Change We Can Believe In' was his tagline, and it has become the cornerstone of his success. Whatever your political leaning may be, reading his book 'The Audacity of Hope' must surely feel like a fresh breath of air from old-school politics. If his campaign is successful, Obama would become the first coloured president of the United States, signalling yet another milestone in the history of American history. With the current state of affairs in America especially in the economical and foreign affairs sector, it is evident that a shift of policies is needed in the government, and both presidential candidates have promised change from the Bush establishment to take the country forward once more. While the 'reformist' tag will always stay with Obama, McCain has also tried to distance himself from failed Bush policies to garner votes in the race.
There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.~Nelson Mandela, South African Civil Rights Leader (1918-present)
I have enormous respect for Mandela, more so after reading his book 'A Long Walk to Freedom', from which this quote originated. It is unavoidable that being in a foreign land, my lifestyle and mannerisms will somehow change to adapt and accomodate the differences in culture. Friends have already noted that I'm starting to develop a British accent, and I've also learnt to do some household chores to maintain my general wellbeing in school. Whether I would be judged to be different when I return to Malaysia I don't know, but hopefully it is a change for the better. Still in the process, something from the past is lost in the torrents of change. Yet through the rain, there are some things that will remain untouched, and it will be these constants that will see me through to the end.
I promise I will, and forever will remain,
Zhong.
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