What I've learned about transformation design thus far #16

Memory is storage. Becoming is change.

When we store a memory, we add to what we have. The memory sits alongside other memories, available for recall, a possession of the mind. We say “I have this memory”, and the “I” who has it remains the same.

When we undergo transformation, we change what we are. The becoming is not additive but constitutive. We don’t say “I have this transformation”; we say “I am different.” The “I” itself has shifted.

This distinction illuminates why peak experiences can be both powerful and disappointing. The peak is intensely memorable, perhaps the most memorable moment of one’s life. A good story at a birthday party. But if it does not lead to becoming, it’s kind of a torture: the memory of a height that ordinary life cannot reach, a reference point that makes the day-to-day seem flat.