The Real Truth About Change

“Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal” – Arthur Schopenhauer

It’s been almost a year since I first shared my story on The Change Blog. I was coming out at the happy end of several years of endeavouring to live a more creative life and I was excited to share my story with others. I had recently founded my own creative business as a designer after years of striving toward it as my ultimate goal and I felt I had finally arrived.

I told my story with pride in the hope that it I might inspire others to make a positive change in their life. But most importantly I told my story like it was done. I had arrived at my destination. I had changed.

What I’ve realised in the last year though is that my story of living a creative life in tune with my passions hadn’t ended there. I had not reached my destination, in fact my journey was still at its very beginning.

A year ago I was a budding fashion designer and had just started to dabble in writing. At that point when I shared my story here I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I had a story to tell about someone who had made a big change and arrived at their ultimate destination but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

In the last year my business has changed, my writing has grown beyond all belief and I’ve started a masters degree in an area I love. A year ago I felt I had arrived at my destination but little did I know I was just getting started.

This past year has seen my creative business as a fashion designer change dramatically. My products have changed, my focus has changed and most importantly I have changed. My aspiration to be a fashion designer that I worked hard toward for years has morphed into something different.

I now see my ultimate journey as not just to be a designer but to live an interesting and creative life in whole, whatever form that takes. With this new focus I’ve spent more time than ever writing and it has ultimately surfaced as a major part of my life. I’ve also found a new interest in sustainability and am now studying a master’s degree in this area.

I don’t know where all of these things will ultimately lead but I can confidently say I am happy to take the journey.

I think there is the tendency to believe when we are striving toward something that when we reach our goal it will be the ultimate experience and life for us. It’s certainly how I felt when I was working my old 9-5 full time office job. Every day I’d dream of a better more creative life, one where I would spend every day designing in my studio and be happier than ever.

Fast forward a few years later and I am happier than ever, but the things that have surfaced in my life are things I never could have predicted. I am being called in new directions and fashion design is no longer the be all and end all that I once thought it was. My journey is now about living a creative and whole life, whatever form that takes.

What I’ve learnt in the last year is that change isn’t the striving toward a one-time event I once saw it as. It’s a continual process where we are always changing.

Every step I have taken, and every interest I have pursued, has lead me onto the next. Our lives are twisting, turning and hard to predict. The truth is things change, sometimes rapidly and sometimes slowly, but we are never still. We are all changing every single day and that is the most amazing thing. My life today is richer in ways I could not have imagined a year ago and in one years time I know it will be even richer in ways I cannot imagine now.

When we let change into our lives what we are really doing is saying yes to become the people we are meant to be. There is no final destination but rather a winding path with many wonderful changes along the way.

So today as I share my story of change once again, I want to leave you with this. Change is not permanent. Change is not ultimate. Change is forever morphing, twisting and turning, but that is all part of the beautiful journey of your life. So embrace change, even when it feels like it has veered of course, because every change is part of your unique journey to be the person you truly are.

Have you experienced the twists and turns of change in your life? Did you feel you had arrived at your destination only to find you were just getting started? Join in the conversation by sharing your experiences in the comments below.

                                                      BY:Mihaela Cristallo