The Body of Theseus

An odd thought occurred to me this morning. Is the human body a Ship of Theseus? Our cells are replacing themselves by countless numbers every second of every minute of every hour of every day. If that is so what really makes us who we are? Are we the same person we were at birth? I suspect not. It turns out it’s not the physical form that makes us who we are. We are indeed that Theseus ship. 

I’m certain when parts were replaced on the ship they weren’t replaced with parts exactly identical. A deck plank might have a slight warp the one before it did not, etc. So does that happen with us? Does one regenerated cell that is slightly misshapen from its predecessor change the others and down the line change our physical form slightly? The “infrastructure” that helped to create and contain our “essence” is being replaced daily, but the essence remains. This is one I’ll be pondering for a while.

A Ship of Purpose

I decided at the end of last semester not to pursue my nursing degree any further. After careful and thorough consideration I knew this was the right decision for me. It initially (and still) feels like the absolute right decision. That “gut” place tells me so. And as my dad always says, “Your gut instincts are always right.”

Now that the dust is settling and I'm returning to a more free schedule I find there is a hole now. Where there was once school and clinicals and homework, there is now nothing there. My “purpose” is gone. I was lying on the sofa yesterday feeling empty and down and couldn't figure out why. That's when I realized the sense of purpose was gone. This morning I realized that can be seen as a negative thing. Or it can be seen as a totally positive thing. I now have the time to pursue interests and curiosities I never had (made?) the time for before. So while right now it may seem like I'm rudderless, I'm actually in complete control of the direction the ship sails. And that direction can be any I choose.