Generation. [Re]generation

Generation comes from the Proto-Indo-European root gen- — to give birth, to bring forth. It’s the root behind gene, genesis, genius. Birth, at the root, is creative force.

But re-generation is the more interesting word. It doesn’t mean a second birth from nothing. It means a return passage — descending back into the source-form before rising again, renewed.

This is the shape of every real transformation. Not addition. Not invention. Descent, then return.

You don’t become new.

You go back down to what generated you in the first place, and you come back up [re]membering.

~ Timothy