fungibility

When did I stop listening to country music? How long have I been eating the same breakfast? I used to begin every day off by watching The Today Show; I don’t do that anymore. I went to church as a kid with my parents, quit when I went to college, started again when I had kids, quit when they got older, and now go from time to time and church to church when I feel so moved, which isn’t often but happens occasionally.

When we are in our routine, we don’t typically give it much thought. We just do it. And, we figure we’ve always done it this way. We’ve always felt this way, thought this thing, voted with this party, rooted for that team, shunned that neighbor, cooked those foods. We just do what we do. Until we do not.

It strikes me that we don’t notice the “until we do not” of things most of the time. Sure, there are disruptive events and moments like welcoming a new love into your life, letting go of an old love, or a move or loss or gain of some sort. Those are notable, often memorable, markers of change. But the changes that happen slowly, subtly, sublimely; those are the ones that fascinate. We only notice because a reminder pops up. Oh! Right. I remember this song. I love this song. That was my country phase. Or you are served a meal and think to yourself, “I haven’t eaten a burger for a long time; I always used to eat burgers. I love burgers.”

The word that comes to mind is fungible. It means interchangeable. A substitute. I love listening to music, but my country phase gave way to a blues stage which gave way to an American Songbook stage and so on. Music is always there. The genre changes. Same with my breakfast. I always eat breakfast and usually it’s the same every day but somewhere along the way it changed from tea and toast to coffee and a yogurt. I always voted Democratic but there was a year when I didn’t like anyone on my team but I did like the Republican so I voted for him and now think of myself as Independent. Fungible. A candidate is a candidate is a candidate but my vote isn’t always party line.

Here’s what’s really significant. We very often believe – deeply and with all our heart and soul – the thing we believe. The practice, the taste, the sound, the person. But things change in very subtle ways, and so we do too, and then, we find ourselves in a different place and we believe – deeply, with all our heart and soul – the (new) thing we believe.

Remember how so many things we hold tightly go. They are fungible. It's the holding tightly that doesn't change. Pay attention to that. Don't believe everything you believe. Loosen. Lighten. Make space and let the light in.  

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3/2/2026