Author: M. Alejandro Soto

In my life many events have unfolded, somehow finding the opportunity to undergo the formality of actually occurring. As all of these things have taken their time to happen to me there has been an undertone of thought that has been woven into the sub-textual rhetoric that accompanies all of this human experience. The quiet whispers that fling from the events of life sing a silent song. A tale of how the winds of change are constantly blowing, filling our sails and sending us forward across the ocean of life. The thought has crossed my mind that this concept of constant change may be the closest the universe has come in creating a universal law to govern the way this world works. Change is the only constant. Be the change you wish to see. If you don’t like something, change it. The pieces of wisdom that stick to the walls of my mind with the greatest vigor are those that address this idea of constant change. Terence McKenna said of the psychedelic experience that one of the greatest lessons that can be pulled from going into those spaces is the idea that nothing last, nothing is permanent. This can be a hard pill to swallow because it does truly mean everything. All the good, all the bad, and everything in between is in a process of occurring that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. This idea has had a greater impact on me than any other I have stumbled across in my rambles through the great minds of humanity which leads me to think that there is something incredibly substantial contained within it.

My quest to dig into this idea of constant change is what lead me to create the website Metamorphia.art as the internet is a crisp mirror reflecting this concept back into the minds of humanity. In this piece I will outline what Metamorphia is to me in two aspects. First what the website is and how I see it developing as it moves forward into the short term future. Second I will delve into the philosophical aspects of the word ‘Metamorphia’ as there seems to be little about this that I can locate in the present moment. As a word it has very little usage at this time. Never have I heard it come out of a mouth other than my own. A quick Google search revealed that there is a Sonic The Hedgehog character named Metamorphia but as far as a linguistic definition there is practically nothing that I have been able to locate. If anyone has any points of study into this word please contact me as I would be interested to look into it further. At this time it would appear to me that I am the only person working on developing out this idea in a such a focused fashion. The idea of constant change is nothing new, I am not so delusional as to think I am the only person who has noticed this, but it does seem that people are trepidation when moving around this idea of constant change, of Metamorphia, which also comes to me as no surprise. The work that I have done to develop this idea has been  difficult and often taxing in a myriad of ways. One needs to sum up a good deal of courage to face the idea that everything they know will one day finish up its tale, come to its final conclusion, and eventually give up the ghost.

So once again I will muster up my courage and delve into this topic. This project feels like it has been a long time coming in my mind and as such I intent to take my time with it so please bare with me as I work my way through this unknown territory. This truly is an expedition into the unmapped areas of my mind and the collective consciousness that seems to surround this so if things start to get a little dicey please stick it through. This idea is one that needs to be worked out and I can feel it formulating in my mind as this piece has been working its way into the realm of physical reality. This piece stands as a road marker of sorts as I expect my thoughts on this to develop as I move forward through time. This is the initial expedition into this territory and it will serve as a basis for all further excursions into this mental playground where the swings and slides are all made of mind. Thank you for coming on this journey with me.

The Internet may be one of humanity’s greatest inventions. In thirty short years it has made our world smaller than it ever has been before. We can see what is happening across the globe often with greater ease than discovering what is happening across the street. We can have real time conversations with people in the farthest corners of the globe. This connection has created so much novelty that it is staggering to witness. Yet this connection is also invigorating and inspiring. The ability to share anything with anyone puts much more significance into every word I type. My friends in my hometown have the same amount of access to this piece as my friends thousands of miles away. The technology we created also has a damn near perfect memory. Once I publish this piece it will remain in the neurons of the digital matrix after my own have died and turned back to dust. Boy, talk about pressure. But now is a time that humanity needs some pressure. The atrocities we have committed against our planet are too numerous for our limited minds to comprehend but this is no excuse to sit down and let them continue to be committed. Now is the time to fight back and this is the only way I know how. With openness and honesty and that is what I hope this website will reflect. There is no point in saying things that we don’t mean and every word that finds its way into this weird website is placed with intention and truth.

This website is an exercise in honesty. For much of my life I struggled to share my truth and those days I hope to leave behind me. We could all use a little more truth in our lives so I will do my best to find truth here and carry it out into the world, into reality. If anything I ever say seems ingenuine please call bullshit. If there is one thing I do know it is that there is much that I do not know so I will need to be checked left and right if I am to stay strong and true. At this time I am walking this path alone. I am my editor, web designer, accountant, marketing team, personal trainer, biggest cheerleader, boss, and employee. Hopefully this can continue but the delusion that this project will be perfect or even satisfactory with only two eyes checking it before being published is one I constantly try to fight off. If any little elves of deception slip through my fingers I implore you to alert me post haste so they can be quickly done away with, or at least noted for future avoidance.

The struggle to find truth is heavy since truth, possibly more than anything else, is a great example of the existence of Metamorphia. As soon as I find one thing I believe to be true ten more questions arise causing me to rethink all that I thought to be real. Truth may be the most elusive thing that humanity hunts for but that only means we must search harder every day. Nothing worth finding in life is presented on the front door step and life often gives me a swift kick in the ass to get me out the door to search for something greater. Much of my life was spent in the safety of the front door step but those days are behind me. The hunt is on and will hopefully continue for at least a few days after I breath my last.

So what does it mean for everything to be constantly shifting? This fact means there is nothing that we can hold onto forever, maybe even for a moment. Especially the present moment, which is all we truly possess, passes us by before we know it. Blink and you’ll miss it. This leads one to a cool kind of acceptance. Letting go of all we try to grasp onto for dear life brings an acceptance of the fleetingness of the present moment. It is impossible to step in the same river twice because the water is always flowing. Even standing still in the water the molecules that touch your skin are constantly flowing, being replaced by new ones the very same way in which the cells of our body are constantly dying and being replaced by those which just underwent mitosis. Every seven years all the cells in our body have died and been replaced by new ones so are we ever the same person from one moment to the next? I would say no. Frank Ostaseski said “when my friends tell me I haven’t changed a day I’m almost offended” in his comically compassionate tone. The deepest, most meaningful, and impactful changes in our lives take place within our hearts, souls, and minds where others are unable to see. Perhaps two or three people we come across in our lives will be able to spot these minute changes and still see us for the unique individual we are our whole lives through. These are the people you want to ride the wave of Metamorphia with across the sea of life.

Change is scary. The shifting sands of time reveal all that we try to conceal. This is what Metamorphia is for me. Authenticity. Wiser men than me have told me to be the change I wish to see and what I want to be is me. Even when it’s scary, when I scare myself, I know there is no one else I would rather be on this journey. As the terrain moves beneath my feet I will take comfort in what I have within. Gratitude and Love. These are the things I truly value. These are the things that are greater than the power of change, greater than any strength I may pretend to have attained on my own. Love is the wind in the sails. Love is the flow of the tides. The sun shines on us his Love and the Moon cradles us in her compassionate embrace. As everything falls away one thing remains and that is Love. Long after my life has ended, when my time has run out, after my words fade away, and my name is forgotten I believe that this Love that was here long before me will carry on into eternity and with it a piece of you and me. Be the change you wish to see. Be Love.