"Does thinking change people?"
Haru asked in the after-school classroom.
"Definitely," Ren answered immediately.
"But how do they change?"
Ren thought. "Perspectives change. How you see the world changes."
Mio quietly closed her book.
"Mio, have you changed?" Haru asked.
Mio nodded slightly.
"Can you put into words how you changed?"
Mio shook her head. Then wrote a line in her notebook.
"'Became quieter,'" Haru read.
Ren interpreted. "By deepening thought, your inner self calmed?"
Mio nodded.
"Is that good?" Haru questioned.
"Not good or bad," Ren said. "Change itself has meaning."
"Meaning of change?"
"Your past self and current self are different. That's growth."
Haru pondered. "But if you change too much, you're not yourself anymore?"
"The problem of identity," Ren nodded. "How much can you change and still be 'yourself'?"
Mio wrote again.
"'Like a river.'"
"River?" Haru read.
Ren explained. "A river constantly flows. The same water never passes twice. But the river is still a river."
"Constantly changing but still the same?"
"Yes. Identity lies in continuity. Not in fixed substance."
Haru was surprised. "So no matter how much I change, I'm still me?"
"If memory and narrative continue."
"Narrative?"
"Perceiving your life as one story," Ren explained. "Past, present, future connected."
Haru wrote in her notebook. "Self is narrative."
"Called narrative identity."
Mio stood up and opened the window. Wind entered.
"Did she just say something?" Haru asked Ren.
"Maybe 'accept change,'" Ren smiled.
Haru asked seriously. "How do you want to change through thinking?"
"You decide," Ren answered. "You can choose the direction of change."
"We can choose?"
"To some extent. What you think about, what you read, who you talk to. That determines the direction."
Haru looked out the window. "So this conversation is changing me too?"
"Definitely."
"Can you tell how I'm changing?"
"Not now," Ren admitted. "But in a few months, looking back, you'll notice."
Mio turned toward them. Then smiled slightly.
Haru asked. "Mio, do you want to change more?"
Mio shook her head. Then wrote in her notebook.
"'Just keep changing.'"
Ren was impressed. "Not making change a goal. Changing naturally."
"Change without purpose?"
"Close to Taoist or Zen thinking," Ren explained. "Wu wei. Following nature without artifice."
Haru was confused. "But you said choose direction earlier."
"It's contradictory," Ren admitted. "Intentional change and natural change. Both exist."
"Which is better?"
"Both necessary."
Mio nodded.
Haru took a deep breath. "Isn't the changing self scary?"
"Do you feel scared or excited?" Ren said.
"You, Ren?"
"Excited. Because I can meet new versions of myself."
"Mio?"
Mio wrote. "'Interesting.'"
Haru laughed. "Everyone's so positive."
"Even if you fear change, it happens," Ren said. "Better to enjoy it."
"Then I'll enjoy it too."
"Good choice."
Mio stood up and headed to the door. As she left, she turned back. One word.
"See you again."
"Again?" Haru was surprised.
"See the changed self again," Ren interpreted.
Haru's eyes lit up. "Next time we meet, we'll be different people?"
"Slightly different. But connected."
Mio nodded and left.
Haru asked Ren. "The self changing through thinking, is that growth?"
"Growth is one form of change," Ren answered. "Change in a good direction."
"What's a good direction?"
"You decide that too."
Haru looked out the window. The sunset was fading. Tomorrow will be a different day.
"Let's keep thinking," Haru murmured.
"And keep changing," Ren responded.
They silently left the classroom. Going to meet the self that keeps changing.