'Garbage can smell terrible, especially rotting organic matter. But it can also become rich compost for fertilizing the garden. The fragrant rose and the stinking garbage are two sides of the same existence. Without one, the other cannot be. Everything is in transformation. The rose that wilts after siz days will become a part of the garbage. After six months the garbage is transformed into a rose. When we speak of impermanence, we understand that everything is in transformation. This becomes that, and that becomes this.
Looking deeply, we can contemplate one thing and see something else in it. We are not disturbed by change when we see the interconnnectedness and continuity of all things. It is not that the life of any individual is permanent, but that life itself continues.'
(Thich Nhat Hanh, 'Present Moment, Wonderful Moment')