“Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose".

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

This is something that the French say. Sounds like an oxymoron but if you really think about it, what they say sounds more poetic and is a better explanation of the changes that occur in life, unlike the commonly used “Everything changes”.

What I understand from it is that when a constant is exposed to constant change, it becomes even more solidified in its existence by its ability to stay the same.

Like with personality traits, they often have to be exposed to various predicaments before we can dare to define them as a constituent of whom we are.

And the more situations we are exposed to, the more we define the aspects of ourselves that remains the same.

By that definition, we are constantly developing because even the parts of us that are consistent are changing because it’s becoming even more defined, even more proven.

Self discovery is a never-ending journey, I would say that death would be the destination but death does not necessarily mean the end of life, and who says that my soul cannot continue to develop the aspects of what makes me... me.

I honestly believe that the way people view themselves, is mostly based on the experiences that are occurring in their lives at that point in time. In some senses the way we view ourselves is an illusion because we tend to see ourselves as the type of people we feel like we are at that point in time.

For example, during a difficult point in my life, my self-esteem may be rather low and therefore I may not see myself as attractively as I would if the circumstances were different.

Does that define who I am?

Or is the way I view myself constantly a reflection of my situation and an illusion of how I am handling said situation?

I want to always view myself as the person that I’d like to be, because then I am bound to end up turning into that person... I hope.