Ch-Ch-Changes

You would have to be living under a rock this week to have not heard of the passing of musical and cultural icon David Bowie.

Like many other people in my age group, I was longtime fan of his impressive body of work, musical and otherwise. As a teenager I even got to see him on Broadway in the lead role of the Elephant Man!

Over the years the term, "chameleon-like" was often used to describe the way he regularly shifted his approach to music, fashion and persona. He truly ran the gamut, often bringing styles and influences from what was considered the fringes of society and introducing them to a more mainstream audience.

Couldn't it be said these continual transformations reflect the age we live in? Technological changes and cultural upheaval are happening at an ever increasing rate which are causing many of us to feel alienated-a frequent theme in Bowie's music.

Now there will always be some who stubbornly cling to the past, though history tells us that this is seldom wise or productive-time only moves in one direction.

A future historian may very well say we are living in  the "Age of Reinvention," where the ability to quickly adapt and change was no longer an option but became a necessity. Or as David put it in one of his earlier hits, "just going to have to be a different man. And remember, "we can be heroes, if just for one day."