Change.

It's a strange, strange word, a mystical expression, something that can be taken many ways.

Some people, when hearing of change, immediately invent a magical world ruled by change.

Some people begin designing weapons inspired by change.

Some people write about changes in life that affect people, for better or for worse.

Others write about things they wish would change, how they wish they could change, how they were changed by change.

We are wounded by change, bent by change, twisted, warped, torn by change.

But we are also healed by change, created by change, benefited by change, inspired by change.

Change is what gives us life.

Change is what gives us death.

Change is what gives us inspiration - what fuels us as writers.

Growing up. Letting go. Reaching out. Learning. Accepting. Moving on. Advancing physically; progressing emotionally. Celebrating our new position in this life, or lamenting the decisions which brought us to this place.

Transformation, by definition, requires that we become something separate from which we began; for most people this is, of course, a daunting prospect- though some may argue the idea of altering that which we are is nothing less than exhilarating. Wherever we stand on the issue, we cannot allow our hesitation about the future to prevent us from becoming the happiest, healthiest, most productive beings we can be. Nor can we fear change which may bring negative consequences; those consequences may ultimately make us better. Change, however uncomfortable, will forever be a necessary part of our human experience. What if the chaos you are feeling right now is meant as an inspiration to make your tomorrow different than your today? How are we to become the people we are meant to be if we are standing still? Every transition, good or bad, brings us one step closer to our ultimate destiny.

To change is to be human; to fear change is to fear ourselves. The fear of one’s true self is both heartbreaking and dangerous. So we go forth into this confusing, thrilling world one step at a time, holding our breath and waiting for the impact of our metamorphosis to become apparent.

Change is everything.

It's the fundamentals of life and death.

It affects all objects, organisms.

We authors strive to capture an example of it.

Young to old.

Naive to wise.

Despair to hope.

Hope to despair.

When the character thinks his last thought

His creator sets down the pen.

When the reader reads the last word,

They've all changed.

Regret, wishes, despair.

Bittersweet, hope, awe.

Joy, sadness, anger.

The blend of tastes left in a reader's mouth,

And sometimes felt in the soul.

Evolution hurts. Evolution is pain. Evolution is uncomfortable truths and learning to cope and adjust to them. Evolution is the end and the beginning of the old and the new. Evolution is glory. It is celebration and dancing and deep, intense love propelling you forward. Work in progress, never finished product. Life lived and moments to come. The sum of parts leading to a new answer.

Evolution is the dawn of time, the moments where we were nothing but a distant fact and Earth and the universe were nothing but molecules waiting for their moment. Evolution is now. Evolution is history, is future, is you and your life and the lives of others and change and regret and power and remorse and revolution and rapture and ecstasy.

Evolution can be found in arrangements of words, in the stories we tell ourselves and others. Evolution can be found in words, here. Evolution is everything and nothing at once. Evolution is the prose of our lives and the lives of others.