Kimo Gray

Hamilton Salsich

English

16 September, 2008

The Change that Binds Us

A comparison of two quotes

“Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

These words were first written down back in 1903, by the poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, and still today, these words have meaning. When we find ourselves caught up in all the pain and suffering that seems to define us and our questions are unable to be answered, it is always best to stop, breath, and live your life to the fullest of your ability. Rilke tells us that we need to slow down in the present to plan for a better future, but it seems impossible to slow down in our lives; the ancient philosopher Heraclitus once said, “There is nothing permanent except change.” These two quotes oppose and relate to each other in different ways, but both relay the same message, in order to achieve peace, we must have a balance.

While Rilke talks about slowing down throughout our lives, Heraclitus talks about the craziness and confusion that holds us back from achieving peace. When you think about it, it seems so simple to just sit down one day, evaluate your live, and then plan out your life so that you can be both efficient in your daily routine but yet retain the ever-too precious peace. This is far from a reality. There is too much confusion and unpredictability in our lives for us to function like that, for peace is an emotion that comes at a price. But this does not mean we have absolute no control upon our lives. We are lucky to live in a society in which change is easily accepted and adaptation is something we go through numerous times a day. So while change can often seem like a thing to be afraid of, it actually helps us to work towards our goals and to address the questions that make up who we are at the time they are meant to be answered. So while our lives can sometimes seem crazy and wild much like the music in Sunny’s Blues, change is a thing that can be calmed and manipulated to ride out like the cool jazz of a piano.

               Even with the ongoing battle that seems to always go on with change and peace, the two of them must 
coexist, as a person cannot ever hope to function without both, and they both benefit our lives. We cannot be
negligent about change, for without it, our lives would be nothing but an endless string of repetitive nothing, and
our lives would have no meaning. We also cannot live without peace, for without it we would be drones, of 
which desired nothing but the next task. It is nice to enjoy either one of them individually, but we must always
appreciate what both have to offer. Peace and Change both play an integral part in our life, but at different times.
It seems that, when we our younger we experience change in every shape and form, for in this fast moving
world, everything is changing for us, from the technology, to the lifestyle, to our personalities. But as we reach an
elder age, we start to begin to accept the peace that we have so graciously earned throughout all our long
struggles with misery and sadness. To quote William Wordsworth, “He is by nature led to peace so perfect that
the young behold with envy, what the Old Man hardly feels.” So even though we fight off change in our lives, we
know that one day it will bring peace.

               Personally, I favor peace to change any day. There is nothing that sounds more appealing to me than
just spending a day inside reading a good book, or watching one of my favorite movies-but I know that
whatever happens, there will always be subtle change. And I know that whatever that change is, be it good or
bad, that it will help me to achieve a greater peace one day, one that can only be achieved by the wise and
experienced. So listen to Rilke, try to calm down and live your questions now, for as Heraclitus puts it, the
“inevitable change” will one day help guide you to your answers.
loose sentance= blue
fast word = brown