Spare Change

We know it's true. We can't avoid it. Everything changes. Change is inevitable. Four quarters becomes a dollar, the caterpillar becomes the butterfly, and the egg becomes the chicken. In my case, I became an idiot. I learned the hard way that change, just for the sake of changing, is not necessarily a good thing.

Here's what happened: Speck (also known as The Pie's Favorite Aunt) and I were on a little shopping outing and she mentioned that she was thinking of going a little more blonde the next time she colored her hair. I fully supported the idea because I have seen her with VERY blonde hair and quite liked it (although, it was 20 years ago). At my house, she decided to make the change. Quite a bit of product was left over and she practically dared me to to color my hair. I didn't think it would do much to my mousy, grey streaked hair, so I went for it. As time passed, we watched each other's hair get lighter...and lighter...and lighter. Her result was almost white blonde and mine resembled the bottom end of a baby chick.

In my attempt to tone down the blonde, I purchased a hair color at the local Walgreens with the word "golden" in the name. That should have been my first clue. At the end of that experiment, my hair made me look like the love child of Howdy Doody and Side Show Bob! My horror was such that I actually cried before returning to aforementioned Walgreens and buying a lovely shade called Truffle. I am now sporting a hair color that is found in nature and one that I like very much.

But I wonder why I felt the need to change in the first place?  Again, feeling the itch to change, I rearranged my bedroom furniture. And I hate it. It's not at all convenient and the bed is now closer to my Dad's room AND The Pie's room. So, I have to rearrange again. But do I want to go back to the same arrangement, or try for something different. I think change should show a transformation of sorts. Forgive another hair color reference, but it's like the scene in "Beaches" where Hillary spends an hour coloring her hair the EXACT same color as she already had. Why go through the effort not to show any difference? W.H. Auden wrote:

We would rather be ruined than changed;
We would rather die in our dread
Than climb the cross of the moment
And let our illusions die.

Some people fear change. They say, "We've always done it this way." I don't mind change. I like to mix things up every once in a while, but I want it to be worth it. Years ago, when Speck and I shared a house, she would leave for the Thanksgiving holiday with the furniture and dishes in one spot and arrive home to find I had changed everything in the house! It frustrated her beyond belief because she likes the familiarity of items always being in the same location. Plus, we were (are) both control freaks so we like things the way we like them. I don't know how we managed to share a house for 9 years without controlling each other to death!  

My point, and I think I do have one, is that if you are going to make a change - whether it's hair color, furniture placement, body wash, toothpaste, diet, drive to work or style of underwear - make sure it's for the right reasons.  Does it benefit you in a positive way or cause stress as a result? Does it make a difference in the quality of your life? 

All change is not growth; as all movement is not forward. (Ellen Glasgow) The good thing is that if you don't like the change you make, you can keep changing until you do.