On being born and re-born.

Posted: July 3rd, 2009 | Author: A.J. | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: born, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, quote, re-born | No Comments »

“[H]uman beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them… [L]ife obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.”- Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

I view my life as a progression of smaller cycles, revolutions rather than linear sequences.  When I think about the person I was in high school, and in college, and then law school; one long line could not adequately described the process and progress I have made to today.

Thinking about the above quote, two parts stood out.  One is that we are not born once and for all.  While we have one life-span, people like Gordon Parks or Dr. Jeong (of The Hangover and Knocked Up fame) serve as reminders that we can have multiple lives within that period, as unique as grains of sand falling in an hour glass.

The second was the part about obligation.  Life obliges us renew ourselves in a myriad of ways through a lifetime, whether through self-directed action, changing careers, finding spirituality, etc.,  or through circumstances which  force us to change, like parenthood or the death of a loved one.

At 26 years old I haven’t experienced events I would categorize in the latter paragraph.  But I have attempted at least to re-mold myself into something new.  Not totally new, but changed in ways, attitudes and outlook, that I wasn’t before.

I personally don’t view this is an obligation.  For me it is more of necessity, a logical progression for anyone who seeks to change and challenges themselves beyond their reach.  It is also exciting because with that progress you unlock hidden potential, talent, passsions, or both that change you on that day from the person you were before.

Which makes me wonder who I will be in a year, 10 years, and so on, from now.

//A.J.

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