Much the Same

eric mccarty
2 min readApr 17, 2024
Much the Same — Change — Aging — Witness — Headless Now — Lyrical Prose — Moca McCarty Photo

Much the same:

another birthday is here and many things seem much the same as last year, older, yes, but there’s a certain continuation of circumstances that hasn’t really changed much at all. Life is amazingly stable and I’m grateful for that, it’s a blessing in many ways, knowing that my world today will be much the same as it was yesterday — even if it’s mostly an illusion.

sub-atomically, my body is completely new, virtually every atom has been swapped out for another, not a newer model, but fresh for me at least. Cellular changes have occurred here too, not always for the best as I grow older, with many cells losing their capacity to perform optimally, changing in shape and and structure with a slow accumulation of effects. Oddly, the body replaces billion of cells on a daily basis, and my body will be completely renewed within the course of several years. But this process seems to come with the price of aging, cells no longer retaining a memory of their youthful function. My cells are new, just not as spry as my former model.

so really, it’s a paradox of stability.

things are much the same.

and different too.

what hasn’t changed at all is the ever present awareness that has been witness to everyone of these events, my life has unfolded through this sense of being aware, each change…

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eric mccarty

Writer, prose poetry, meditation teacher and lifetime student