1. Regeneration
On Christmas Day the Doctor is going to die and be reborn. This new incarnation will retain the memories of the past ones. What will change will be the face and the overlying persona. How far does personality go in determining who we are? Its intriguing that no matter how many different Doctors we have hes always recognizable. The actors playing him are very different and yet they all found a certain quality that is the essence of this complex being. In a way, Matt Smith the actor is also regenerating. He will be a different person, separate from his role as the Doctor and growing into something new. We all have the potential of rebirth every time we take a risk, open a door, look sideways we morph into a new person formed out of different experience. We share the memories of our younger selves but we are not them and we shouldnt be. Its appropriate to feel the loss of the cherished and familiar, but also to revel in the wonder and excitement of change and discovery. I will miss Matt Smith terribly; he was an incredibly talented and brilliant asset to the show. He lived and breathed the role of the Doctor. That in no way diminishes my utter joy at the opportunity to meet the next incarnation.