Transformers - Joan

         Always a sucker for a sale, I am in the midst of a Week of Transformation, a special package at the gym I just joined. Now, every time I turn or walk or even breathe, I get a sharp reminder that although I exercise religiously, there are always muscles to enhance and strength to build.

          It has made me look at things differently. I used to think of transformation as being explosive, kind of like the Transformer superheros my children once played with...you know Boom! something happens and suddenly you change course. Some transformations are like that: mother or fatherhood for example, with their responsibility for a new and helpless life. And with weddings all around us, we see the beautiful couples take their vows, full of promise and with anticipation of the multiplicity of changes that are in store.

          Other transformations are ones we expect, either marked by decade birthdays or the passage of those dear to us; but the little things, like the sudden tweak of a new muscle, also deserve our attention. Too often we find ourselves only looking at the big transformations - the ugly ducking to the graceful swan. If it doesn't have pop, do we even take the time to notice it?
                     
          It has taken me years to recognize that transformation is more about paying attention: feeling at home in your body, slowing down, being present and relishing the gifts we find around us. It's also about recognizing the deepening bonds of selflessness, caring and support that we put into our relationships with others and with the world. These are the things that become truly transformative, in the steady stream of moments strung together in our lives...and in the epiphany that occurs when suddenly we recognize, I am different. 

          My aching muscles remind me that change always has to come from the inside. As Martha Stewart would say - and I would now agree- "That's a good thing!" (Joan)