On second thought...

You know, I could stay put all I want. I could live in my old room every day and keep all of my things here and walk through that doorway every single day. And it wouldn't stop things from changing. I could live in Rochester forever and only visit outside of city limits. I could try to keep my friends and family and property inside this city. But it wouldn't stop change.

You have, and then you lose. You're with someone, and then you miss someone. Nothing is constant, except for maybe change itself. So, I could stay put and wait for change to catch up to me. Or I could do what I want, see what I want to see, and accept change as the constant variable in my life. I can grow in it and learn in it and write about it.

I think it's a Greek idea - the wheel of fortune. Not like the game show, it's a metaphor. Each person is a point on some big wheel, and each life cycles up towards the sky and happiness, and then down again into the muck and mud. And then up again, down again, and on and on. I'm guessing that there is probably some truth to that. I'm also guessing that there's no trick to staying on top of the wheel; I don't think you can run fast enough or hold on tight enough. So I guess that you can spend your life trying to stop the wheel at the top, or you can just pick the direction you want and let it roll.

I think spending time in the mud is ok, as long as you know you're going somewhere.