The first of the year, first of the month, the first waking hour of the day—these are culturally shared new beginnings where we observe change and make change.

Yet every minute is a threshold into something new. As we tumble forward through our lives, we are continually altering and being altered. Each breath refreshes the oxygen in the blood and expels carbon dioxide. Cells respond in nanoseconds to what we need to be safe. New ideas arrive. Consciousness shifts intensity and hue many times a day. While we appear solid and steady, we are walking and talking versions of Busch’s “edge habitats (Life on the Edge (NY Times, 12/27/13).” In our constantly changing selves, spirit, chemistry, electricity, flesh, bone and blood do an endless, intricate dance with each other and with the environment.

How would our perception of ourselves change if we thought of ourselves as evolving from minute to minute? How would our experience in the world change?