By Dawn Norton

Life is never static. It simply can’t be—because everything around us is always in motion, always changing. It’s either coming into form or going out of form. From the moment we arrive on Earth, our bodies are both building something new and gradually unraveling from what they once were.

Our bodies contain roughly 37 trillion cells, and at any given second, about 810,000 of those are being replaced. Depending on the part of the body, this renewal happens over the span of seconds, days, or months. When we consider this constant regeneration happening on a cellular level, it really is a miracle to think about what our bodies—and our health—are capable of.

And this isn’t unique to us. All of nature mirrors this pattern. Flowers bloom and wither. Acorns stretch toward the sky, grow into mighty trees, then age and return to the earth. From single organisms to the planet itself, everything is in a rhythm of ending and beginning. This is the Law of Perpetual Transmutation in action.

Even degeneration plays a role in regeneration. Sometimes, what breaks down simply becomes nourishment for what is to come. A basic example is one organism receiving sustenance from another. Or leaves and plants decomposing into the soil, allowing new growth to rise. It’s a beautiful creative cycle.

Even our thoughts follow this pattern. They come into form and fade out of form. When we hold a thought, picture it with faith and gratitude, we begin to bring that idea into physical reality. As Wallace Wattles wrote: “There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates and fills the interspaces of the Universe. A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.”

When we pair that kind of creative thought with consistent action, our visions can become real. The longer we nurture them, the more tangible they become. But when we move on to new ideas, our old ones may naturally fade, slipping out of our experience just as quietly as they came.

If we don’t understand this law, it’s easy to think our desires aren’t being fulfilled. But often, it's not that they aren't on their way—it’s that we stop holding the vision before it fully arrives. The flow of creation needs our sustained belief and participation. Everything is constantly moving either toward us or away from us. Understanding this flow is what gives us the power to truly co-create what we desire.

Having just turned 53, and reflecting on over three decades of mothering, I see this law showing up even in life’s seasons. When I first got married, I knew children would come—and they did, one by one, all seven of them. For 15 years, we were in the creation phase of building a family. Then came the growing years—a whirlwind of school events, activities, milestones, and each child eventually setting off on their own adventures. Now we have two children left at home. One is getting ready to move out, and soon we’ll have just one daughter here. In just a few years, that phase will also close. Our time of parenting children in the home will be complete.

Of course, the family continues—now with grandchildren, and more on the way, and someday, great-grandchildren. But that particular cycle—the season of raising a family—will have passed. And a new season is arriving, bringing with it new experiences and new forms of creation. It’s a tender thing to welcome the new while saying goodbye to what once was.

The Law of Perpetual Transmutation touches everything. Life, thoughts, relationships, seasons—they’re all constantly in motion. People, things, and ideas—all coming into and going out of form.