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The More Things Change...
by Patti L. Auber, published October 2015
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Le plus ça change, le plus c’est la même chose.
The pessimistic French expression plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose is very often cut down to just the first clause: plus ça change... / "the more things change..." The shortened French expression is often used in English too, particularly British English. In either language, plus ça change indicates a certain disillusionment or resignation regarding whatever is being talked about. 1
You’ve probably heard that expression. In fact, chances are good you’ve said it yourself at some time. Often it’s said with a certain amount of pessimism, and perhaps a wry humor. Your company hires a new CEO to make sweeping changes for the better, but the issues that affect your daily work remain the same. Or you are faced with the quadrennial barrage of political ads promising great changes with a new leader at the helm. The more things change…you sigh to yourself. It expresses our disillusionment over situations that remain unsatisfactorily stagnant when beneficial change has been promised.
It’s long been a favorite expression of mine, but I have a different take on it. For me it’s a comforting thought that expresses assurance and promise.
You see, I know that every day may bring some unpleasant change in my life. It seems to get harder to live—gas prices go up; groceries are more expensive than ever; the political climate in our country is disturbingly chaotic and hostile. I’m aware that health challenges could present themselves at any time as I get older. Friends have died, or are smuggling with illness. I know without doubt that the comfortable status quo I now dwell within will be shaken up and a new status quo will have to emerge. Things in my life will change, whether I want them to or not.
Some time ago I read an article by William F. Schulz in UU World Magazine (Winter 2008). He wrote of a phenomenon known as “the angle of repose.” This is a term used in physics, and Merriam-Webster defines it thusly: “the angle that the plane of contact between two bodies makes with the horizontal when the upper body is just on the point of sliding : the angle whose tangent is the coefficient of friction between the two bodies.” That’s quite a mouthful, and pretty difficult to grasp. Their second definition is somewhat easier for me to understand: “the angle of maximum slope at which a heap of any loose solid material (as earth) will stand without sliding.” 2
In his article, Schultz says this: “Consider the way the wind shapes a sand dune. At the very peak of each dune, the wind creates a precise edge so sharp that it might have been cut with a scalpel. The grains of sand are poised in perfect balance at the crest of the dune. And as long as the wind doesn’t kick up again, they stay that way—paused at what is called “the angle of repose.” But then, inevitably, a windstorm arises or sometimes just one additional grain of sand too many lands on the peak of the dune and everything starts to cascade, drop off, fall away, caught up in the “botherization of existence” once again.“ 3
Doesn’t that describe how we feel about our lives sometimes? We’ll either be faced with a cataclysmic event or just one more of a series of small bothersome events that finally turns our world upside down and we’re caught in a maelstrom of turmoil. Either way, we’re faced with unwanted change. We just want our life back!
Schultz says that the good news is that eventually the sand dune will reform itself and another angle of repose is created. The dune will be a different shape; it may be a little smaller or a little larger, but balance inevitably returns if you just give it time. The trick, he says, is to hold on until it does.
That’s the very point where I often find comfort in that French expression: Le plus ça change, le plus c’est la même chose. The more things change, they more they stay the same. I remind myself that the seasons will change in a comfortable and beautiful pattern. I can count on it, no matter what else is happening to me. The stars will continue to fill the night sky. The moon will cycle through its phases as it stands sentinel above us. The more my life changes, the more my world stays the same. I may still take pleasure in the company of my friends and family. I may take solace from reading and listening to music. I can be inspired, uplifted, and cheered by those things in my life that remain with me throughout the discomforting changes occurring around or within me.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. You can count on it.
So, dear reader, the unwanted changes that are forced upon us may be at best, just bothersome, or at the worst, frightening. But the changes will pass. A new balance will be established. Our lives may be a little different---or a vastly different—but we will reach a new point of stasis. We will once again find our angle of repose. The trick is to just hold on—hold on to those unchanging parts of our world that can comfort and hearten us, until our life settles down. Just hold on.
Citations:
1 http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/pluscachange.htm
2 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/angle%20of%20repose
3 Hold On, William F. Schultz, UU World Magazine. Published by the Unitarian Universalist Association, March 2008.
The pessimistic French expression plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose is very often cut down to just the first clause: plus ça change... / "the more things change..." The shortened French expression is often used in English too, particularly British English. In either language, plus ça change indicates a certain disillusionment or resignation regarding whatever is being talked about. 1
You’ve probably heard that expression. In fact, chances are good you’ve said it yourself at some time. Often it’s said with a certain amount of pessimism, and perhaps a wry humor. Your company hires a new CEO to make sweeping changes for the better, but the issues that affect your daily work remain the same. Or you are faced with the quadrennial barrage of political ads promising great changes with a new leader at the helm. The more things change…you sigh to yourself. It expresses our disillusionment over situations that remain unsatisfactorily stagnant when beneficial change has been promised.
It’s long been a favorite expression of mine, but I have a different take on it. For me it’s a comforting thought that expresses assurance and promise.
You see, I know that every day may bring some unpleasant change in my life. It seems to get harder to live—gas prices go up; groceries are more expensive than ever; the political climate in our country is disturbingly chaotic and hostile. I’m aware that health challenges could present themselves at any time as I get older. Friends have died, or are smuggling with illness. I know without doubt that the comfortable status quo I now dwell within will be shaken up and a new status quo will have to emerge. Things in my life will change, whether I want them to or not.
Some time ago I read an article by William F. Schulz in UU World Magazine (Winter 2008). He wrote of a phenomenon known as “the angle of repose.” This is a term used in physics, and Merriam-Webster defines it thusly: “the angle that the plane of contact between two bodies makes with the horizontal when the upper body is just on the point of sliding : the angle whose tangent is the coefficient of friction between the two bodies.” That’s quite a mouthful, and pretty difficult to grasp. Their second definition is somewhat easier for me to understand: “the angle of maximum slope at which a heap of any loose solid material (as earth) will stand without sliding.” 2
In his article, Schultz says this: “Consider the way the wind shapes a sand dune. At the very peak of each dune, the wind creates a precise edge so sharp that it might have been cut with a scalpel. The grains of sand are poised in perfect balance at the crest of the dune. And as long as the wind doesn’t kick up again, they stay that way—paused at what is called “the angle of repose.” But then, inevitably, a windstorm arises or sometimes just one additional grain of sand too many lands on the peak of the dune and everything starts to cascade, drop off, fall away, caught up in the “botherization of existence” once again.“ 3
Doesn’t that describe how we feel about our lives sometimes? We’ll either be faced with a cataclysmic event or just one more of a series of small bothersome events that finally turns our world upside down and we’re caught in a maelstrom of turmoil. Either way, we’re faced with unwanted change. We just want our life back!
Schultz says that the good news is that eventually the sand dune will reform itself and another angle of repose is created. The dune will be a different shape; it may be a little smaller or a little larger, but balance inevitably returns if you just give it time. The trick, he says, is to hold on until it does.
That’s the very point where I often find comfort in that French expression: Le plus ça change, le plus c’est la même chose. The more things change, they more they stay the same. I remind myself that the seasons will change in a comfortable and beautiful pattern. I can count on it, no matter what else is happening to me. The stars will continue to fill the night sky. The moon will cycle through its phases as it stands sentinel above us. The more my life changes, the more my world stays the same. I may still take pleasure in the company of my friends and family. I may take solace from reading and listening to music. I can be inspired, uplifted, and cheered by those things in my life that remain with me throughout the discomforting changes occurring around or within me.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. You can count on it.
So, dear reader, the unwanted changes that are forced upon us may be at best, just bothersome, or at the worst, frightening. But the changes will pass. A new balance will be established. Our lives may be a little different---or a vastly different—but we will reach a new point of stasis. We will once again find our angle of repose. The trick is to just hold on—hold on to those unchanging parts of our world that can comfort and hearten us, until our life settles down. Just hold on.
Citations:
1 http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/pluscachange.htm
2 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/angle%20of%20repose
3 Hold On, William F. Schultz, UU World Magazine. Published by the Unitarian Universalist Association, March 2008.