Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Transformation vs. Contentment: Who Is More Badass? The First in a Series of Follerly Studies with Excessively Long and Self-Important Titles

I was on the phone with my friend Dear Diary, and we were discussing life and how to live it. It is our custom to do three impossible things before breakfast and then call each other up and brag about it. In the flow of our philosophizing, I posed the question, "Which is more badass?  Transformation or contentment?" I'd been on a self-improvement kick for decades and was itching to firmly close the book on that chapter of my life. Rain was dripping down the window, and stack of novels waited expectantly by the couch.

Deario didn't fail to disappoint (he is indefatigably go-getting). "Transformation! No question about it. There may be a dance between the two, but transformation should definitely be leading." I secretly pocketed the question and later took it to tea with my Chai Master. It is our custom to sip chai and discuss how to get away with not doing as many things as possible. The Master, as usual, responded with a riddle: "Perhaps it's not a question of choosing transformation or contentment but of an other, third thing. And that third thing might look something like flow."