Everything Changes

An update to this newsletter & an upcoming New Year's Eve gathering

My mother sent me off to college with a copy of The I Ching, the ancient Taoist oracle known as “The Book of Changes.” Made up of 64 possible responses (“Hexagrams”), The I Ching’s core truth is that life is a process of constant transformation. To be alive is to be in perpetual flux: between the yin and the yang, rest and action, darkness and light. In other words, we exist inside the tension of the opposites. If the world were in perfect stasis, we would not be alive. Within Taoism, like other philosophical and religious traditions, there is “right action,” but it cannot be found in dogma or a singular code of conduct; depending on the individual path, the right action (or inaction) is determined along with the moment in time. If there were a replicable set of always correct rules by which to abide, life would not require our active participation. The individual path cannot be separated from this precise moment in time. What might be right for you may not be right for me; what might be right for me right now may not be right for you right now.

The I Ching has been one of the great companions in my life. I’ve not written about it much (yet), but I’m glad for the opportunity to share more soon in a gathering on New Year’s Eve with

Elise Loehnen

. I’ll tell you how to join us for that event in an upcoming newsletter, but for now, put a note in your calendar for Sunday, December 31st at 10 am PST / 1 pm EST if you’re interested. We’re really looking forward to hosting a year-end ritual with our communities.

I’ve also been thinking about The I Ching and the reality of perpetual change lately because I’ve been preparing for a shift here, in this newsletter. Coming very soon, my Substack will get an update with a new name and look. What has been “The Quarterlifer” and looked like this:

Will very soon be Self & Society and look like this:

I’ve been stretching myself between two worlds. While more of my book identity has been here on Substack, most of my writing and events have been elsewhere: at The Salome Institute, where I have been teaching online for years. Inevitably, this has confused people (myself included!) and has meant that I’ve been stretched thin. I haven’t been engaged in writing and community building here nearly as much as I’ve wanted, nor have I been able to include Substack subscribers seamlessly in gatherings online. So I’m truly delighted to say that I’m finally bringing these two worlds together to make all of that more possible while bringing a robust community of lovely people over here.

I hope all of this will prove to be a boon for you or a relatively invisible shift.