Being and Becoming

“All human beings are ratios of being and becoming….  Being is something that always involves becoming, and I think that’s really the glory of the human race.  I don’t think anybody should write us off.  We’re not done yet.”  Joy Ladin

I heard this yesterday while listening to an On Being podcast and it settled in as truth.  At any given moment I am this  individual mass of cells, yes, but even those are “being and becoming.” As I type this my body, my cellular makeup, is regenerating and reforming.  (All I need to do is look in the mirror or at old photos to confirm that.)  From a physiological standpoint we are, all of us, constantly “being and becoming” so long as we live and breathe.

It occurs to me that this process of being and becoming applies even more so to the less tangible parts of me, to my thoughts, my views, my attitudes.  I still see and think of some things as I did yesterday, a year ago, a decade or two ago, but in many respects, I see, understand, think of things differently now than I did then.  Indeed – “All human beings are ratios of being and becoming….”  Which of course raises the questions:  “What am I being?  What am I becoming?”